Mental health status in traditional communities: Social markers under analysis

Abstract

This descriptive study sought to analyze the mental health status of 48 Northeastern municipalities in Brazil with quilombola communities and agrarian reform settlements in their territories, considering the living conditions, health service supply and the profile of morbidity and mortality in mental health. Gender, class and race aspects are articulated to understand the production of health inequities in these territories. By means of a quantitative analysis based on secondary data collected from different open databases, the research unveiled the intersection and combination of factors that influence the mental health status of municipalities with rural and forest populations: the precariousness of living and working conditions, insufficient support from psychosocial care services, and ethnic-racial and gender inequalities in psychiatric morbidity and mortality.