Mental health and harm reduction in primary care: Conceptions and actions

Abstract

The aim of this article was to present the conceptions and actions of mental health of the workers of the Family Health Attention Center (NASF) of the city of Fortaleza (State of Ceara) in the field of Mental Health. Particularly, with regard to the interventions carried out in the problem cases of use of crack, alcohol and other drugs in the Primary Health Care (PHC). To do so, a semi-structured interview was applied, composed of five sections: 1) Professional profile of interviewees; 2) Moral Conceptions; 3) Knowledge about Drugs; 4) Harm Reduction (HR) Actions; 5) Perceptions of the interviewer. Descriptive data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), v. 20. The results reflect the coexistence of moral and traditional conceptions, guiding and sustaining moral values and medical models, making difficult the adoption of a HR orientation.