The performance in Mental Health and Psychosocial Care in a mining disaster in Mariana (MG): an experience report

Abstract

This experience report aims to discuss the context and activities developed in the field of Mental Health and Psychosocial Care, in the municipality of Mariana (MG), since the mining tailings dam's disaster at Samarco / Vale / BHP Billiton in 2015. For this, memories of the knowledge constructed with mental health workers and researchers in the affected territory were activated and in contact with directly affected population and other health care servers. After the immediate and urgent psychosocial care, it was possible to establish an Action Plan involving the entire Psychosocial Care Network of Mariana, which brought about the creation of a team focused on the psychosocial needs of the population directly affected in its scope. The discussion involved the challenges of this establishment within Brazil's Unified Health System, aligned to the specific demands of this vulnerable population and how the disaster, understood as an ongoing process, continues to influence the daily lives of affected people and the dynamics of the territory. The conclusion showed the need for practices oriented by the dynamics and realities of the affected communities, emphasizing the potential of  mental health care built in the territory and in dialogue with the right to health and citizenship.

Keywords: Mental Health. Psychosocial Care. Disasters. Primary Health Care.