Group technology in psychosocial care: A dialogue between actionresearch and permanent health education

Abstract

Objective: to discuss the process of Permanent Health Education conducted with professionals working in Psychosocial Care Centers, on using Group Technology in psychosocial care. Method: this is an action-research where 66 workers from 29 mental health services in a Midwestern Brazilian using Maguerez Arch as data collect strategy. Data was presented according to the chronology of the gathering meetings and discussed from Freire’s conception of problematizing education. Results: the participants identified “the lack of knowledge about what group dynamics is and how to use it properly” as a problem to be addressed, having the following as causes: low adherence of users to group activities; poor worker competence in conducting and planning therapeutic groups; little theoretical mastery on group dynamics; inadequate handling of silence and group techniques. The following themes were chosen for theorization: motivation, participation, communication, planning, group structuring and coordination, use of techniques and group experiences. In the action phase, the participants built 16 proposals for interventions, 13 related to the construction of learning spaces and three to the reorganization of group service practices. Conclusion: using the action-research method in this process of Permanent Health Education allowed workers and their teams to exercise critical analysis on working with groups, as well as to become aware on the restrictive aspects of this practice, which led them to find more effective ways for using group technology in mental health care.