Abstract

DUARTE, Luiz Guilherme Mafle Ferreira  and  FERREIRA NETO, João Leite. Family members responsibles for the care of a person with mental disorder in a small city. Pesqui. prát. psicossociais [online]. 2016, vol.11, n.2, pp. 473-488. ISSN 1809-8908.

This paper conducted a mixed method study (quantitative and qualitative) in a mental health unit located in a small city in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The goal was to investigate the lives' transformations experienced by relatives of people with severe mental disorder. Questionnaires held the characterization of the caregivers. After that, the life of relative responsible for the care was examined, using the assumptions of the Grounded Theory. The results show that just one familiar member is the responsible for the care. In general, he sees himself alone and search for other supports; he has to deal with waste of resources and patients' unstable behaviors; he prefers that the attention to the patient happens in an open service instead of the hospitalization; however he ponders that the medicine based treatment is the only one that exists; he tries to adapt his own life to the life of his relative with mental disorder.

Keywords : Family; Caregivers; Mental health.

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