Mental health care in the municipality of São Carlos, State of São Paulo: remarks about its history and current situation

Current mental health policies place importance on the network of services for attending individuals with mental disorders within the community, through providing them with social and technical support. The present study was conducted to investigate, describe and discuss mental health policy in the municipality of São Carlos, State of São Paulo. Mental health services and actions were analyzed through semistructured interviews with professionals and participant observation. The results revealed a historical delay in mental health care; services are recent and require improvements or changes; and the healthcare network is fragile. The current system is still insufficiently advanced to give support to professionals and to attend users. It was shown that collective construction of a mental health policy is needed, with more active participation by these professionals and investment in continuing education. Closer contact with the university may contribute towards this process.

Mental health network; Mental health policy; Psychosocial care; Mental health assistance