An experience in mental health and solidarity-based economy development maximizing projects and networks

Abstract

This report presents a training experience in mental health and solidarity-based economy, held through a partnership between the University and the public health establishments, specifically CECCOs. The experience refers to the proposal and the design of a course for workers from revenue-generating groups related to services, as well as the supporting technical team that prioritized in their methodology self-management and the realization of practical activities that involve planning and assessment derived from the trajectory of the groups participating in the experience.

The proposition commits to qualifying projects guided by the principles of solidarity-based economy as a response to the work issue as posed by the Psychiatric Antimanicomial Reform. The learning strategy that was adopted fostered principles from self-management, cooperation, solidarity-based economy and collaborative work within the groups and demonstrated the relevance of learning models based on social praxis. As a main consequence, we highlight the creation of a local network, initially formed by CECCOs participants of the course area, which later expanded to other actors, allowing the progress of production activities, marketing and collective organization for work.