From the changes in the mental health policies, several questions concerning the conceptions of users, relatives and professionals about a day-care units came up. This paper aims at: knowing the representations that users, relatives and professionals constructed about a day-care unit in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The research was made among users, relatives and professionals and was methodologically based on the Ego-ecologic theory by Marisa Zavalloni. We could notice that people who were interviewed perceived the day-care unit by a psychosocial model in which they associate the unit to the reduction of the number of admissions, the inclusion of the family and society members in the course of treatment, and the preservation of liberty. The professionals reassure that the importance of the political part of the day-care unit in the movement of psychiatric reformation. The professionals feel pressed to deal with the demand of a chaotic public reality that does not offer support to work, resulting in work overload, insecurity and limitations.
Health Care Reform; Mental Health Services; Psychiatric Nursing