Work in the Life of the CAPS User

The creation of new care centres for the mentally ill with the philosophy of non-exclusion required radical changes in the way health professionals, the state and society think about mental illness. This book comes at a time in the history of care for the mentally ill when psychiatric reform gave them a new status: that of a human being with potential to be discovered and developed, no longer excluding them from society, but participating in it and having it participate in their care. The author shows how mental health service users seek inclusion in society through work, participating in the Integration Psychosocial Care Centre (CAPS) in the city of Campinas-SP. The book allows the reader to realise the major changes in the way these users face life, comparing their existence before and after the CAPS. It also shows that this type of mental health care has long since replaced the obsolete hospitalisation system and has given its users hope for life and social transformation by overcoming the obstacles caused by the illnesses that afflict them. Happy reading!