Presentation Information
[SY-55-03]Dilemmas of deinstitutionalization in contexts of absent psychiatric care: reflections from Chiapas, Mexico.
*Pablo Farias (Bats'i Lab(Mexico))
Keywords:
Deinstitutionalization,Trauma,Violence,Displacement,community mental health
Psychiatric deinstitutionalization has been advanced as a policy priority in Mexico in recent years. New legislation mandates that no new public psychiatric hospitals can be created and that funding should be gradually reduced for existing psychiatric care hospitals. Legislation also promotes the goal of integrating psychiatric care into general hospitals, but no programs or funding have been developed to advance these goals.
Reflecting on the processes of deinstitutionalization of psychiatric care from the perspective of the rural regions of Chiapas, Mexico, where healthcare is generally precarious and no access to psychiatric resources exists, presents us with the dilemma of creating alternatives for participation of psychiatry professionals in the development of alternative community resources. Based on the experiences of communities that have confronted trauma due to repression, violence and displacement, this presentation explores alternative strategies that could enable psychiatry to play a more significant role in community mental health.
Reflecting on the processes of deinstitutionalization of psychiatric care from the perspective of the rural regions of Chiapas, Mexico, where healthcare is generally precarious and no access to psychiatric resources exists, presents us with the dilemma of creating alternatives for participation of psychiatry professionals in the development of alternative community resources. Based on the experiences of communities that have confronted trauma due to repression, violence and displacement, this presentation explores alternative strategies that could enable psychiatry to play a more significant role in community mental health.