User participation in public policies of mental health: an integrative review

Abstract

The scope of this integrative review was to identify and analyze scientific articles regarding user participation in public policies of mental health. A bibliographic search was performed between November 2016 and May 2017 in the Pubmed, Scielo and Lilacs databases. The sample of the integrative review was comprised of seven relevant articles that met the inclusion criteria. The documents obtained were analyzed using Atlas Ti 6.1 hermeneutic analysis software. As a result, the review found a growing legislative and governmental recognition of user participation in public policies of mental health; persistent questions about their “capacity” to participate; several barriers to successful participation; and some strategies to bolster this participation. One of the main challenges identified is to overcome prejudiced and stigmatizing beliefs that operate as barriers to effective user participation, and to build the necessary adaptations that enable people with psychosocial disabilities to participate on equal terms with the rest of the population.

Mental health; Citizen participation; Public policies