Representações sociais sobre saúde mental, políticas públicas e práticas profissionais: um estudo em Manfrinópolis – PR

Abstract

The current work aims to analyse the existing relationships between managers and health care professionals’ social representations about mental health, their professional practices besides the public policies implemented in the public health services in the County of Manfrinopolis State of Parana. To accomplish it, it has been done a survey with 27 managers and professionals, as well a study about federal, state and municipal current policies in the area of mental health. It has been sought to check which public policies drives the professional practices in the local services, as well to know the therapeutic itinerary of the local public system users of the health system who need mental health assistance. Finally, it has been done an analysis of the social representations about mental health of professionals, aiming to identify the existing relation between such representations and the actions developed in the local health care system. It has been found that there are, among the professionals and managers two prevalent views related the mental health. One conception about psychic disturbance is connected to the biomedical model of health care, which comprehend the illness as an isolated event, flared by biological determinants. The other conception of health is more related to the bio psychosocial model, which consider the illness as a process resulted from multiple variables(biological, psychic, social, cultural). Both predominant conceptions derive from scientific knowledge and stand the very close existing relationships between the common sense and scientific knowledge, so that the social representations may be defined as being the intersection point between the dominants ideological education and the empirical experience. Finally, it has concluded that the conceptions about mental health determine the professional practices, since the understanding about mental health according to a bio psychosocial view originates multidisciplinary actions back to the prevention of grievances and mental health promotion, while a notion based on biomedical model prioritizes curative and treatment unidirectional actions. Consequently, the current survey has made evident that the necessary deconstruction of ideologies and the formation of a new vision based on bio cultural psychosocial conception of health is a process that evolves the social and the conceptions socially shared. It’s still understandable that such deconstruction it is not only needed among the target actors, but also and mainly in the whole society.