The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Mental Health Network in the Southern Area of Buenos Aires City

Abstract

Introduction: In this study we aim to characterize community and care activities in the mental health network in the southern area of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) in the period 2020-2022. Methodology: This research employs a descriptive, qualitative, and cross-sectional design. The concept of ‘node’ was used, as a health service or unit of operation made up of individual elements that may represent devices and/or institutions and that, collectively, according to their relationships, constitute a network. To collect the information, we interviewed representatives of nodes from 3 neuropsychiatric hospitals, 2 general hospitals and their programmatic areas, and centralized mental health programs in the CABA. Results: A multiplicity of modifications were observed with regard to the policies and work processes deployed in the modality and types of mental health approach. The following were noted: cessation of activities, changes in roles, reassignment of functions, closure of programs and the creation of new inpatient wards, which resulted in environments with a higher degree of institutionalisation. On the other hand, we surveyed the modality of the network based on the type of link and levels of articulation of the nodes under study based on Mario Rovere's theory. Conclusions: The pandemic has generated a widespread phenomenon of returning to practices supported by the hospital-centric model, and we highlight how community practices were a channel that could channel the health emergency in a more satisfactory way.