The Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS) are foreseen as the ports of entry and regulation in mental health, and were created with the intention of replacing the hospitalization in asylum for the community care service. The objective was to understand the social representations of family members of the CAPS users from Natal-RN, about their participation in the activities of these services. Descriptive research with qualitative approach, developed with 28 family members, through semi-structured interviews between August and September 2007. The data received informational support of ALCESTE software. The family members build their social representation in the face of a need for change and hope in the health care of their relatives, crystallized by taking and positioning behavior, supported in the presence of the environmental space of CAPS. The family participation still does not gather, in the scenarios investigated, conditions to promote the inclusion of their relative, once the physical established presence is not yet enough.
Psychology, Social; Mental Health Services; Family; Psychiatric Nursing; Substance-Related Disorders
