Global mental health: insights from an experience of cooperation between Brazil and Italy

Abstract

Recognizing the central role of mental health in global health and affirming the com-plexity of the universalization of care policy, this paper discusses aspects of global mental health in Brazil and Italy-two countries that are a po-tential reference for exchange between the global North and South. Using ethnographic and action research methodologies, we conducted a study of a virtual community of practice composed of Brazilians and Italians interested in community mental health care. The results are presented in scenes that provide insights for the international debate in three categories: the doctor-centered approach to care; the institutionalization of care and medicalization of suffering; and the contribu-tion of community practices and non-specialized local knowledge. The locally situated scenes cast light on globally shared critical knots, elucidating a plural set of relationships that run through work processes and mental health care. The sharing of knowledge and experiences highlight what should be universalized: opportunities for horizontal ex-change, rather than the production of national identities that radiate universalizing practices and policies.