Abstract
This article presents the participatory research-intervention experience of Autonomous Medication Management (GAM) with family members. The GAM, a Canadian project, seeks to critically discuss the use of psychiatric medication to foster the autonomy of users of these drugs. In Brazil, the so-called GAM-BR project translated, adapted, and validated the instrument used in this approach, the GAM Guide. We follow the theoretical-practical indications of the enactive approach and employ the cartography methodology, in particular the cartographic interview technique. As a participatory project, the validation of the Guide included users and workers of the Brazilian mental health services (CAPS) as co-researchers. The creation of a group with family members of users in the validation phase was an innovation in GAM-BR that enabled the inclusion of this fundamental group for the discussion about drug treatment. We can highlight two processual effects of this work with family members: the promotion of displacements of points of view and the promotion of co-responsibility. These effects suggest perspectives for GAM and the work in mental health, in a horizon of inclusion and composition between different perspectives.
Keywords:
Mental health; Research-intervention; Participatory research; Autonomous medication management; Family