Family caregivers of mental health service users: satisfaction with the service

Given the psychiatric reform, family members of mental patients were invited to act as partners in the care provided to users. The role these individuals perform in the relationship service-user conferred importance to their evaluation of quality of care. This study investigates the satisfaction of 54 family caregivers of users of substitute mental health services. The following were used: The Brazilian Mental Health Services' Family Satisfaction Scale (SATIS-BR) and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Data were treated through descriptive and non-parametric statistics. Caregivers presented moderate to high satisfaction. A negative correlation was observed between 'satisfaction with the treatment results' and the variable 'age of users' (p = 0.006). The caregivers mainly indicated broadening activities as a strategy to improve care. The conclusion is that the substitute services should advance in terms of inter-sector cooperation and optimize resources close to the residence of families.

health services evaluation; caregivers; mental health