PHARMACOTHERAPEUTIC MONITORING OF USERS AT THE LIMA BARRETO PSYCHO-SOCIAL CARE CENTRE (CAPS): A STRATEGY IN HEALTH PROMOTION

Abstract

Mental disorders are a relevant public health issue nowadays. Pharmaceutical Care in mental health can be a viable strategy to care for users of the Brazilian Health System (SUS), effectively contributing to promote the rational use of medications and increase patient adherence to treatment. A study was carried out, therefore, at the CAPS-Lima Barreto Psycho-Social Care Centre (Centro de Atenção Psicossocial Lima Barreto, in the BrPt name) in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, aimed at using pharmaceutical care as a strategy to promote health, with the goals of identifying, assessing, and monitoring the medication-based treatment of patients with mental disorders. The work relied on the participation of 38 patients. These data were collected in a questionnaire based on the Dader methodology. Based on the results it was possible to see that 14 patients aged 31-40 years old (37%). Another parameter studied was related to the manner of administering the psychotropic drugs, where more than half of the users took their medicines with water (52%) and self-medicated themselves (79%). Apart from that, we also found that more than half the users (71%) saw an improvement in their health condition during the pharmaceutical-therapeutic monitoring.