Casal da Boba: Towards Mental Illness and Health I – Patients and Psychiatric Care Characterization

Abstract

Introduction: Community Psychiatry aims to provide effective mental health care to populations, based on their needs and cultural framework, in order to ensure accessibility and treatment to all communities, particularly to the most vulnerable populations. In the context of a community mental health intervention by the Mental Health Team of Brandoa  in a  relocation  neighbourhood, Casal da Boba, the authors propose to characterize Casal da Boba’s outpatient clinical profile and the care provided to that population.

Methods: Revision of user’s records assisted by the Community Mental Health of Brandoa,  organized  by  Casal  da  Boba’  Street layout, concerning their socio-demographic and clinical profile.

Results: In 14 years of clinical activity, 52% of this neighborhood’s outpatients were diagnosed with chronic affective or non-affective psychosis. The majority of these patients were under compulsory treatment  measures, benefiting  from  home  visits and antipsychotic depot medication and reach the team through  Emergency  Room. Other mental illnesses and reactions were not consistently detected.

Conclusions: The  Community  Mental Health Team of Brandoa handles an expected number of patients with chronic affective and  non-affective psychosis,  despite  being more severe and disruptive than the team’s experience  with  other  similar  users  from the  outpatient  clinic. Local neighbourhood strategies, formal or informal, to contain other pathologies are unknown. The type of treatments and pathways to care, despite proof of a major clinical investment from the team, may be related with the community fragile situation and, therefore, it needs to be addressed in the future (with primary care and local partners).