ABSTRACT
Having as guiding elements the recent changes in the conduction of mental health policies in the Country and the health disparities experienced by people living with mental disorders, this study sought to evaluate the performance of a community mental health network based on three main components: 1) the characterization of the users’ profile; 2) identification of therapeutic offers; and 3) identification of the clinical care received by users in each of the services studied, namely: Psychosocial Care Center-II; Psychosocial Care Center-AD; outpatient clinic; and 13 Primary Care services. This is a cross-sectional study based on documents, carried out through the analysis of 4582 medical records. Important differences were evidenced between the services regarding their functioning and dialogue with other points of the care network. The therapeutic offers were mainly characterized by the offer of medical consultations and individual consultations with professionals from the multidisciplinary team. There was low use of community resources and therapeutic workshops. It was observed, as well, a low offer of clinical care to users of specialized services, in contrast to Primary Care, which, in turn, proved to be a powerful and necessary service for the care of people with mental disorders.
KEYWORDS
Mental health; Community mental health services; Primary Health Care; Health services research; Health evaluation