The teaching-learning process in mental health: the student’s perspective about psychosocial rehabilitation and citizenship

Abstract

The current national mental health policies confirm the need to encourage teaching, research and extension practices that favor new professional attitude. A previous study has shown that the students' representation about the competencies required in mental health fall into categories about the concepts of competence, cognitive resources, expressed feelings, and the concept of health and illness, but with no reference to themes related to the users' citizenship or psychosocial rehabilitation, which are central concepts in the course discipline. In this study, an analysis was made of the representation about these concepts, the knowledge and skills identified as being necessary to practice rehabilitation. Participants were students of a public university, attending the Mental Health Nursing class. The results show that students value the users' needs, but the representations about citizenship and psychosocial rehabilitation are founded on common sense about hazards and basic rights like health and leisure.