The work of the social worker at the centres of psychosocial care- the CAPS’s in the city of Belém/PA: contributions for the treatment of the user’s mental health

Abstract

This article aims to present the contributions concerning the function of the social worker towards the treatment of the patient’s mental health in the centers of psychosocial care. The CAPS’s appear in the 90’s as a new social area in the mental health field for the social worker as a result of the replacement of the mental health services. The data shown are from a survey which three social workers took part in a interview conducted from a pre-elaborated path. As methodological procedure, one has decided for the qualitative approach under the Marxism view. The results of the research show that the professional work of the social worker in this area concerns certain know-how of the social worker’s area with others in the same area and enables to answer demands brought by CAPS’s users, as well as others identified by the professionals. The contact with the network of services makes the resolution of the situation much lower, concerning the illness–health process of the users, beyond the mental health care system, having, thus, a straight relation in the welfare of the condition of the patient, looking at the hardships that are faced in the operation of the mental health policies, due to the manoeuvres aimed by the big amount of the capital and organized by the state as a neo-liberal way.