CONTRIBUIÇÕES DA TERAPIA OCUPACIONAL NO APOIO E ASSISTÊNCIA A FAMILIARES DE PESSOAS COM TRANSTORNOS MENTAIS

The Psychiatric Reform, through the deinstitutionalization process and the creation of substitutive services to the hospitalocentric model, invited families to share part of the responsibility in the care for people with mental disorders. With this change, family members have become essential to the social reintegration of individuals with mental disorders, but without receiving any type of training or orientation on it. Objectives: To investigate\udthe contribution of Occupational Therapy regarding the support and assistance to relatives of people with mental disorders in the context of the Psychiatric Reform and Deinstitutionalization. Methodological Procedures: The discussion presented is based on a non-systematic national and international scientific literature review of book chapters and papers published in the databases Bireme and Medline between 2001 and 2011. Results: It was possible to observe that when the family receives support to deal with the difficulties inherent to the family member with\udmental disorder, their emotional charge is relieved. It was also found that Occupational Therapy presents a very meaningful theoretical framework concerning this type of assistance, derived from a consistent practice that seems little explored. Conclusions: There is a gap in the services related to the development of programs to attend family necessities, because the burden placed on families of individuals with mental disorder cannot be denied, especially after the Psychiatric Reform, and Occupational Therapy can meaningfully contribute to this work through its practice