[Article title missing]

Abstract

The aim of this research is to evaluate protective and preventive mental health services with a holistic perspective through the experiences of social workers working in Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) and the patients receiving services from these centers. This research has designed as a qualitative research to expose the participants' experiences and evaluations about the protective and preventive dimension of community based mental health services. Descriptive analysis of the data has made. Six social workers and thirteen patients were interviewed. Semi-structured interview form, created by the researchers, has used. The most important finding of the research is that CMHCs provide an alternative to long-term inpatient treatment by providing continuity of treatment and follow-up, decreases the frequency of hospitalization, and contributes to the increase of social functionality, communication skills and self-confidence of patients. It is also that the society hasn't adequate information of mental illness, and this ignorance brings stigma and discrimination. Based on the research findings, it has been proposed to reorganize the social policies in line with the needs.

Keywords

• mental health
• social work