Saúde mental em Portugal, constrangimentos e desafios para o Serviço Social

Abstract

Social Work in mental health implies an articulation of health with the social aspects and people’s and communities’ lives, in the dimensions of interaction and sociability. That is why the concept of Social Determinants of Mental Health contributes to base intervention. The concept of Multidimensional Social Work encompasses multiple aspects, and the issue of the identity of Social Work in technological society brings to light two tendencies, the positivist and the humanist. Social Work falls into the field of Human Rights, both civil, social and economic rights, redistribution and social justice, as well as cultural rights, identity and recognition, central to people with mental health problems. The role of social workers in mental health is part of the context of government policies, in which the intervention of Social Work will be analyzed, as well as the constraints that neoliberal health policies pose to the profession.