Perception of health professionals from Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS I) regarding the demands related to the use of crack

This paper presents qualitative research analyzing two focus groups with twenty workers in Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS I) in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, in 2009. They were invited to discuss overwork and dissatisfaction with work in general and also recent demands of crack cocaine users on the local mental health networks. Workers in both groups reported a strong concern about the instability of employment contracts, leading to limited ability to plan their futures. In addition, the accumulation of tasks to replace absenteeism in teams leads to a limited interest in long-term action planning and the option for less complex tasks. Court orders, the interference of public officials and requests of hospitalization, are considered unfavorable routine conditions in the perception of health workers, as well as uncooperative and quarrelsome family members and un-motivated users for resuming treatment. The teams seem to be the center of a conflict between the impossibility of avoiding the emergence of demands of crack users who apply to local health networks and the limits established by management, increasing dissatisfaction and perceived overwork.