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Article
Publication date: 29 August 2023

Talita Cristiele Gomes Vieira, Luana Alves Ciriaco, Silvana Silva Santos, Gabriel Lucas de Souza and Polibio José de Campos Souza

This article aims to analyze the incorporation of harm reduction health workers with lived experience in all services focused on the care for drug users in Belo Horizonte’s mental…

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Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to analyze the incorporation of harm reduction health workers with lived experience in all services focused on the care for drug users in Belo Horizonte’s mental health network, one of the largest Brazilian Psychosocial Care Networks (Rede de Atenção Psicossocial [RAPS]), and reports the findings of a qualitative study on the life stories, recovery journeys and the professional practice of harm reducers in Belo Horizonte.

Design/methodology/approach

For the development of this research, the authors chose the following methodological tools: documentary research; follow-up of harm reduction interventions; access to harm reducers’ field diaries; joint writing of the life stories of the harm reducers.

Findings

It indicates that these professionals, as harm reducers empowered by their life experience, have developed various elements and active ingredients of peer support. Their practices and the results of their actions have consolidated their inclusion as Belo Horizonte RAPS’ health workers and highlight that recovery-oriented care and peer support are a real possibility in Brazil.

Originality/value

In this research, harm reducers are coauthors and report their own life experience. In this article, they also talk about the impact of this experience on their work and on the lives of users of mental health services, emphasizing the protagonism and exercise of citizenship by harm reducers.

Details

Journal of Public Mental Health, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5729

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Article
Publication date: 28 July 2023

Clarissa Mendonça Corradi-Webster, Graziela Reis, Elizabeth B.V. Brisola, Cristiana Nelise de Paula Araujo, Éllen Cristina Ricci, Lívia Sicaroni Rufato, Cristina Andrade Sampaio, Mário César Rezende Andrade, José Alberto Orsi, Rosa Alba Sarno Oliveira, Ana Lúcia Cidade, Políbio Campos and Mark N. Costa

The purpose of this paper is to describe six recovery-oriented peer support experiences and strategies implemented in different regions of Brazil in the past 12 years, and explore…

68

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe six recovery-oriented peer support experiences and strategies implemented in different regions of Brazil in the past 12 years, and explore challenges to their development and potential for empowerment and citizenship.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, a group of stakeholders in mental health services involving people with lived experience of severe mental illness describe their experiences with services of peer support. These were all conducted in Brazil and in partnership with the International Recovery and Citizenship Collective (IRCC) and The Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health. The authors met monthly to exchange experiences, studies and practices, and six experiences were selected, described, analyzed and compared. A discussion of these experiences, their challenges, impact and potential followed.

Findings

The explored experiences emphasize that peer support, lived experience leadership and advocacy are feasible in the Brazilian mental health system and can help advance the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is limited to the experience of researchers already engaged in peer support work in six cities in Brazil. Although they represent several different regions in Brazil, there are areas it has not reached. Further research should address and provide a broader view of peer support and recovery strategies spreading in the country.

Social implications

These experiences demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of the recovering citizenship approach to reduce stigma, promote empowerment, autonomy, activism and advocacy, and increase a sense of belonging for those in recovery and marginalized by society. The Brazilian psychiatric reform can benefit from including peer supporters as mental health treatment providers.

Originality/value

This paper provides a novel view of the state of the art of peer support initiatives in Brazil and can inspire individuals, government and communities as they see and understand the breadth, depth and meanings of these peer support experiences.

Details

Journal of Public Mental Health, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5729

Keywords

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