ABSTRACT
The study aimed to comprehend how users of a Psychosocial Care Center – Alcohol and Drugs (Caps AD III) in the city of Petrolina (PE), also having experienced hospitalization in therapeutic communities, evaluate the therapeutic proposals of the two types of service. Therefore, their care experiences were taken for analysis, valuing their points of view and considering the possible convergences and divergences between the therapeutic offers. It was a qualitative research, with evaluative purpose. The fieldwork occurred from the perspective of cartography, using the user-guide tool, with the definition of two interlocutors. Data analysis was supported by the methodology of oral reports, indicating five interpretative axes: 1. users’ comprehension of the care logic; 2. bureaucratic and protocolized production of care; 3. medicalization in care devices; 4. care versus control practices; and 5. drug abuse and gender issues. In order to contribute to the analysis of the impact of the National Mental Health Policy on devices of the Psychosocial Care Network in the northeastern semiarid, the study showed the importance of permanent evaluation processes, emphasizing the role of users, presenting effects of the Psychiatric Reform process and possible ways to strengthen it.
KEYWORDS
Mental health services; Harm reduction; Health services research; Freedom