New mental health services and the revolving door phenomenon in Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the expansion of the mental health care network on the revolving door phenomenon in Rio Grande do Norte (RN). METHODS: This was an exploratory and descriptive research study, performed in a public state reference hospital for psychiatric care. The subjects were 20 professionals from the hospital, that dealt in their daily work with the admissions and discharges of individuals with mental disorders who sought care at the institution that was the locus of the research. The instruments used were: a semistructured interview, direct observation and document analysis. RESULTS: The expansion of the mental health network provided a reduction in the quantity of psychiatric readmissions in RN, as well as a decrease in demand for emergency care in the hospital where the research was conducted. CONCLUSION: It was found that, in addition to gradual reduction of rates of psychiatric readmissions in RN, the researched institution distributed users coming to the emergency department of the institution they used in a more organized manner, within the mental health network of the state, including within all the municipalities. This current research demonstrated that the Brazilian psychiatric reform has moved forward in RN and that it was possible to fight for and achieve favorable levels of reduction of psychiatric hospitalizations in the state.