In just one year, mental care in Rosario grew by 30%

In just one year, mental care in Rosario grew by 30%
In just one year, mental health care in Rosario grew by 30%

The increase in interventions related to subjective conditions manifested itself strongly after the pandemic. “It is an issue that is here to stay and that requires answers”warns the municipal Secretary, Soledad Rodríguez.

The official highlights that although in the last year the demand for care in the municipality’s service network increased _as a result of the number of people who were left without health coverage or without the possibility of paying coinsurance for medical care, among other reasons_, Care linked to mental health increased above other types of demand.

According to the municipality’s report, mental health services assisted 3,967 adults during 2022. The following year, patients over 18 years of age were 5,195. In the case of the girls, boys and adolescents, users went from 1,616 to 2,017, in that same period.

For Jesica Redondo, head of the municipality’s Mental Health Directorate, There is no single reason that explains the rise in attention. “Mental health problems are processes that are determined by a lot of components. It is not just a health issue, but it also has to do with socioeconomic, cultural and historical processes.“, he points out and warns about the complexity of the approach that “is not limited to the response of a bed in the hospital or a shift in an office, “But they involve more complex approaches because the same mental health problems demand much more time and more work.”

>>Read more: Mental health: Santa Fe, Córdoba and Entre Ríos expressed concern about the closure of the Bonaparte Hospital

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More than 11,500 adolescents in the province underwent mental health services in the public network.

How does attention work?

People enter the mental health care network through several routes: health centers, hospital wards, admission to general hospitals or the Sies ambulance service. “The most common form of access for people is through health centers, where family doctors evaluate the situation and, together with mental health teams, the treatment is assessed and defined,” explains Fernando Vignoni, undersecretary of Health and Territory.

Professionals highlight that Interventions follow the guiding principles of the national mental health law and the standard that protects patients’ rights. Based on these certainties it was decided strengthen the network at the first level care center made up of 52 health centers existing in all districts of the city.

Most centers have two psychologists and there is also one psychiatrist for every three health centers. There they stand outpatient therapeutic processes, complete situations and territorial population problems are addressed configuring collective assistance, prevention and health promotion devices.

From the centers it is articulated ways of working with community organizations and other institutions so that the community-based clinical therapeutic strategy.

Alejandra Zorzoli, director of Social Work, also highlights the work that occurred within general hospitals to address emergencies or subjective crises that require hospitalization. “User attention does not begin and end in a single moment, but rather It is a process in which different modalities intervene: health centers, hospitals, spaces for socialization, socio-productive or linked to art.“, describe.

Along with the strengthening of primary care centers, it was planned an emergency on-call service, co-managed with the province, for interdisciplinary assistance to hospital wards of all providers in the city, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. They settled critical care areas in mental health in the Carrasco, Alberdi and Roque Sáenz Peña hospitals and in the Vilela Hospital The first experience in the network of a critical care area in mental health was developed.

The third leg of the program is the therapeutic support devices, caregiver cooperatives and home care teams. Also group devices and shared residence spaces or day centers.

>>Read more: After the pandemic, mental health care in children increased by 253%

At the height of demand

During the past year, the municipal Health Secretariat invested about 600 million pesos per month in the area of ​​mental health. The figure represents the 4% of the secretariat budget. Next year the commitment is to prioritize the area and give it its own budget.

The Secretary of Health highlights that “this is part of our comprehensive vision of health. That is why We consider it appropriate to ensure that it has a particular unit in the budget allocation so that we can quickly make visible how much is invested in mental health and have the resources we need.

The objective, professionals highlight, is deepen approaches in the territories where people “live and are healthy”, incorporating social organizations into support tasks and enabling spaces that enhance the trajectories of service users.

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