title: [Knowledge and practices of the community health agent in the universe of mental disorder].
abstract: This qualitative investigation aimed at collecting information about the knowledge and practices of the community health agents related to the universe of mental disorders. Fourteen agents working in the Family Health Program in Sobral, Ceará were interviewed. We deduced that the concepts of mental disorder are constructed in a process influenced by subjective and socio-cultural aspects and in connection with concrete experiences. The community health agents judge mentally disturbed persons on the basis of different criteria such as normal or abnormal behavior standards and the capacity to make judgments. Social isolation emerged as an important factor, considered by the different research subjects as the cause, the consequence and even as the mental disorder itself. Fear, as a consequence of the strange behavior of people with mental disorders, was identified as an important obstacle for the performance of the community health agents. The strategies adopted by these professionals, fundamentally based on dialogue, reveal concern with social inclusion and the need to involve the families in the care of people with mental disorders.
authors.affiliation: secretaria da Saúde e Ação Social de Sobral, Escola de Formação em Saúde da Família Visconde de Sabóia, Sobral, CE, 62100-000. marcia_mab@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Márcia Maria Mont'alverne
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: de Barros
authors.forename: Maristela Inês Osawa
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Chagas
authors.forename: Maria Socorro de Araújo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Dias
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D003150:Community Health Workers; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy