Resumo
The implementation of Mental Health actions in the Family Health Strategy (ESF) still represents a challenge for professionals and health managers, although several experiences of practice are known in Brazil. Based on a literature review, we aimed to systematize the main elements of the facilities and difficulties in the insertion of mental health in the context of ESF. If it is possible to identify similarities between the characteristics reported in the literature, we found that the relationship between professionals and community, the knowledge about the reality of the communities and the proposed actions for prevention and health promotion will facilitate the development of mental health actions in the ESF. Still, the lack of professional training, the medicalized and fragmented mental health design, the lack of a support network for the actions of professionals and the prejudice against mental disorders are factors that make the implementation of health care difficult, what must be focus of technical actions and policies to subsidize the construction of mental health care, focused on deinstitutionalization.
