[Service integration on a local basis : advantages and limits.]

This article describes an experience of integration of services to people with mental health disorders on a local basis. The experience took place in a rural region between 1998 and 2001 and was funded by the Fonds pour l'adaptation des services de santé (FASS). The authors describe th specific context of the experience, the intervention model which includes integration of health services on a population level as well as specific interventions for mental health patients. The authors then evaluate the experience and more particularly, its implementation on the basis of the concept of partnership. Dyadic relationships between institutional, non institutional protagonists and consumers are examined. After emphasizing the advantages of such an experience, the authors discuss the limits and particular stakes of such a project in the context of mental health.