Community-based mental health services in Brazil

The shift from the hospital-based model of care to community-based mental health services began three decades ago and is still an ongoing process in Brazil.

To update data on the development of the community mental health services network in Brazil in relation to service availability and structure, manpower, pattern of service use, financing, epidemiological studies and the burden of mental disorders, research and national mental health policy.

Searches were constructed to collect data on indexed databases (Medline, Scielo), as well as governmental,NGOs and medical council sources, reports and the grey literature up until 30th March, 2019.

Community mental health services are unevenly distributed in the country. Brazil leads the world in terms of the prevalence of anxiety disorders, ranking fifth for depression prevalence. Violence and suicide rates are two growing factors which exacerbate the prevalence of mental disorders prevalence. An increased reduction of the number of psychiatric beds in the country, in addition to the unbalanced growth of services in the community, has resulted in treatment gaps and the underutilization of services and barriers to treating people with the most severe psychosis. Investment in mental healthcare is still scarce. However, mental health funding is not addressed according to the population´s needs and scientific evidence, resulting in a waste of resources and inefficiency. Programmes and service interruptions are common according to each government mandate.

Successive changes in ideological perspectives have led to the introduction of policies which have caused fragmentation in the mental health system and services. A lack of evaluation and transparency of services and costs are the main barriers to integrating multiple services and planning long-term developmental phases.