Users' expectations with regard to mental health actions: a phenomenological study

ABSTRACT

Aim: To understand the expectations of users with regard to actions aimed at mental health, as developed as part of the Family Health Strategy. Method: This is a qualitative approach in which we use a social phenomenological perspective. Sixteen users were interviewed in two family health units in Porto Alegre/Rio Grande do Sul. Results: Users focus on access to the services and supplies offered by the staff of the two family health units, and the establishment of a social relationship. Discussion: Users sought the services of the units in order to meet the demand for the prevention of mental illness and its complications, to promote and restore health, or even to establish social relationships with the units' professionals. Conclusion: Meeting these expectations is crucial to ensuring the users' access to health services at different levels of complexity, and to strengthen the care elements of the involvement of professionals and users by means of the recognition of social interaction as a therapeutic device.