Um programa de saúde mental: A experiência do Projeto UNI de Botucatu

The aim of this paper was to assess the Projeto UNI (Kellogg Foundation) in one of the Mental Health Centers (ARE) of Botucatu, SP, Brazil. We analysed 20% of the charts and the number of patients seen by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals before and after. Our results showed that: 1) the service users were mainly of neurotic patients (anxious, dysthymiacs, ICD-9 V code), followed by psychotics (schizophrenics, affectives) and organics (epileptics, mental deficients, demented patients); 2) there were more treatment options after the Projeto UNI implementation and over 2,495 group consultations were made in one year (as opposed to 90 in the year prior the project); 3) medical and nurse students are evaluating the program favourably; 4) there is a clear necessity of reassessing and changing some prescription practices: 43% of the patients were taking drug associations, there was an excessive use of benzodiazepines (54%) and low use of mood stabilizers (5%). There is also a need for more availability of depot neuroleptics, other antidepressants and better quality psychotropic drugs, and 5) there is a necessity of improving quality and quantity of charts information.