Prevenção em saúde mental na adolescência: uma investigação participativa na região oeste de Santa Maria/RS

Abstract

The defense of the rights of children and adolescents is closely related to the promotion of mental health, since current legislation, based on the doctrine of full protection, seeks to guarantee the provision of protective care and promoters of development and potential, which favors psychosocial development. To be effective, these principles need to be assimilated and adopted by families, professionals and society as a whole, including children and adolescents themselves. With regard to adolescence, due to the development of autonomy and the achievement of independence, it is important that adolescents know these principles and have the possibility of adopting/accessing them, so that they can seek experiences that promote their development healthier, preventing damage or harm to your mental health. Based on this, this study sought to understand the prevention policies in mental health in adolescence and the adolescents' conceptions about these policies and the defense of rights. The research participants were adolescents accessed through contact with health prevention services, especially schools linked to the Health at School Program, and professionals working on these devices. Focus groups were carried out to collect information, which later underwent thematic content analysis, resulting in categories for discussion. In addition, the Field Diary was also used to record the development of the research. To present the results, two articles were produced: the first, entitled "Places 'from' and 'for' the adolescent: possibilities of links for mental health care", addresses programs and public policies addressed to adolescents and the need for spaces welcoming and attention to the formation of bonds for the effectiveness of actions, in order to guarantee the rights of adolescents and their integral development. The second article, entitled “Between refusal and excess: the possible place for mental health prevention”, groups the results that indicated family and school relationships as essential for mental health prevention. Together, the research results present important contributions to the expansion of scientific knowledge about prevention in mental health in adolescence, specifically informing about the adolescents' own conceptions about the subject. More broadly, this knowledge can also contribute to the planning or qualification of prevention, protection and mental health care actions for adolescents in different contexts, such as schools, health services and social protection.