The assistance model in mental health in Brazil: an integrating review

Abstract

The process of psychiatric reform in Brazil gave way to a crisis of the current assistance model, centered only on the psychiatric hospital, which had a hygienist objective more than care and health promotion. Soon, to change the standard of care for the mentally ill, a struggle was necessary. The present study aimed to make a brief analysis of the care model in mental health in Brazil. The methodology used is an integrative bibliographical review, where 14 articles were selected through the descriptors: Mental Health, Health Care, History of Public Health, between 1997 and 2014 and having as a guiding question: What is the trajectory of the care models mental health? The studies were compared and grouped by content similarity, in the form of empirical categories, and three categories were constructed for analysis, considering the trajectory of models of mental health care in Brazil, as specified: Manicomial Model, Psychiatric Reform and Model of Assistance in Brazil. The manicomial model was the only way of treating the Psychiatric Hospitals and Hospitals. The Psychiatric Reform presents itself in a second moment seeking to reduce the number of psychiatric hospitals and increase the Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS) to attend the population that manifests some psychic suffering, and finally, the current model that advocates the de-institutionalization in which the CAPS are the reference for mental health care. We conclude that the model of assistance to individuals with mental disorders has evolved significantly and positively in Brazil, abandoning the exclusion model to give place to rehabilitation and integration in society of individuals affected by mental disorders.