The process of the dissolution of asylum care pattern in mental health; Santos, São Paulo experience

Abstract

The objective of this article is to exchange concepts and actions that could lead to a reflection and a debate about the construction of a new approach to Mental Health, currently underway in the city of Santos, São Paulo. The strategy and the north of the process, started on May 3, 1989 with the municipal intervention in the "Casa de Saúde Anchieta", was to abolish and supersede the psychiatric institution as the unquestionable structure, source of pratices, knowledge and culture. In this process, the psychiatric hospital was abolished and a net of assistance sites replacing the Asylum pattern was implemented.