A Community Mental Health Service with Almost 40 Years of History

Abstract

Introduction In Portugal, after the integration, in 1992, of the Mental Health Services in General Hospitals and, later, with the publication of the Mental Health Act in 1998, there was a clear choice, in terms of health policy, for the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and for promoting the integration into their communities. In 1977, at the time called Mental Health Center of Viseu, inspired by the avant-garde currents of French sector psychiatry, pioneered through the creation of their Community Service, immediately reducing its capacity from 120 inpatients to 44. Objectives To conduct a descriptive analysis of the patient population monitored by the team of the Community Service of Centro Hospitalar Tondela-Viseu. Aims An observational, cross-sectional study. Methods Descriptive analysis. Data collected from the clinical files and the database built by this service team, analyzed in the program EXCEL ® 2010. Results The Community Service currently integrates 562 patients, about half of which are aged between 30 and 49 years. Most patients are male and the main diagnosis is schizophrenic psychosis. Conclusions The Community Services have progressively assumed a more relevant importance in the monitoring of individuals with mental illness, allowing their deinstitutionalization to happen and contributing to a more harmonious reintegration of these patients in their community.