Capacitação de agentes comunitários de saúde em saúde mental: uma experiência exitosa.

Abstract

Mental disorders are a worldwide serious mental health problem and affect people of all ages, cultures and socioeconomic status. Thus the extension project "Capacity of Community Health Workers in Mental Health" sought to provide theoretical basement about questions of mental health to community health workers (CHW) from teams of the Family Health Strategy. Being of fundamental importance to sensitize these professionals to the theme. The study aims to describe the lived experience and activities in Extension Project “Capacity of Community Health Workers in Mental Health”. This is a descriptive study with a qualitative approach. The study subjects were 18 CHW from Cajazeiras-PB that participated of the Extension Project. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire containing objective questions related to sociodemographic data and subjective questions that guided the study in its trajectory, analyzed by technique of content analysis, in its modality of thematic analysis, highlighting the reports of the CHW about the contribution of the mental health capacity for practical work. The researcher followed the ethical observances from Resolution 196/96 of the National Health council. The Capacity is understood in this study as a process that allowed more basements theoretical-scientific, promoting to CHW greater knowledge, learning, information, growth and change of perception, allowing different ways to cope and to see the subject in distress and the family. However some shortages were also cited by professionals, such as reduced time, periodicity of capacity, small number of CHW, lack of action in the community and specialized professionals in the field of mental health. The capacity allowed the preparation of professionals who deal directly with individuals in psychological distress, family and community, making them more enabled and backed theoretically in the care. But it is necessary more attention, encouragement and support of managers to facilitate the training process and education in mental health, as well as the effectiveness of an articulated support network and capacitated so that there a community work, participatory, reflective and transformative about this issue. This research sought to contribute with reflections on the practices of CHW in order to promote the construction of new concepts and ways of dealing with the subject in psychological distress in the field of the primary attention.