Residential therapeutic services: new challenges for the organization of mental health practices in Cuiabá-MT

Abstract

With the Psychiatric Reform, a demand for the non existing care institutions became visible: the individuals who after a long time of internment in the hospitals became "resident patients" of psychiatric hospitals. In Cuiabá, a city in the state of Mato Grosso, the de-accreditation of a hospital resulted in the creation of 10 Therapeutic Residences (SRT), attending 82 individuals. The objective of this documentary paper aimed at analyzing the implantation experience of local and national determinants of that movement and their relation with Psychiatric Reform. The data sources were the official documents in the three levels of management, information of the local media and academic papers, in 2000 and 2005. Two categories were noticed: the process of management and the autonomy of the inhabitants. The de-accreditation of the hospital and the SRT creation occurred by a decision from the centralized municipal administration. The inhabitants autonomy is influenced by the same centralizing instruments. The SRT may represent an important step towards the Psychiatric Reform and, on the other hand, in the absence of consumer participation, they might  be reduced to the rationalization of resources and ineffective for the psychosocial rehabilitation of the inhabitants.

Key words: Mental health; Health management; Mental health services; Health care (Public Health); Consumer participation.