OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to show the more relevant aspects of psychiatric reform and the community insert of psychiatric patients around the world and in Brazil. It will be detached the procedures of discharge occurred in the city of Barbacena, emphasizing the residential services and the psychosocial approaches. METHODS: Databases Medline and Lilacs were searched between 1990 and 2006 using the following keywords: deinstitutionalization, psychiatric reform, community-based treatment, psychosocial rehabilitation. For the implementation of the residential services, official documents were used. RESULTS: Review and follow-up studies were selected. The most of the studies indicate that the patients have better autonomy, social interaction, global behavior and life quality when they live in community settings. Nevertheless, the authors emphasize the importance of community support, professional staff and rehabilitation programs as a condition for good outcomes. In Barbacena, the procedures of deinstitutionalization began in 2000. Nowadays there are twenty four residential services in this city. DISCUSSION: In despite of difficulties in the psychiatric reform process, the community-based treatment and psychosocial rehabilitation approach are the principal models of psychiatric care presently, and the residential services play an important role in this process.
Psychiatry; deinstitutionalization; psychiatric reform; assisted living; facilities