Mental health practices in the family health strategy: an exploratory study

Objective: Understanding the procedures, actions and approaches used in mental health in primary care. Method: a qualitative exploratory research developed with two teams from the Family Health Strategy in Juazeiro do Norte-CE, Brazil, between May and June 2009, with the non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Ceara, CAAE No 16/09. Results: actions focused on mental health were shown to be related to the prescription of psychotropic drugs, the referral of cases to the clinic and home visits by community health workers. In the service, the Support Center for Family Health assumed a modest role, with individual consultations and few group activities. Conclusion: thus, it was observed in the practices of professionals from the Family Health Strategy the predominance of procedures for care under a reduced vision of health, focusing on the individual and on the injury, distinguishing from the proposals of collective and comprehensive care proposed by the community care model.