The Psychiatric Reform in Andalusia (Spain). Four decades of transformations in Public Mental Health Services

Abstract

The article aims to present in a summarized way the most outstanding characteristics of the process of transformation of public structures of attention to mental health problems, officially initiated in Andalusia in June 1984, with the approval by Parliament of law on the subject. Throughout these almost 40 years the archaic structure of services that characterized psychiatric care has been transformed into a complex network of community orientation, surpassing the Psychiatric Hospitals and with a health sector integrated into the Public Health System and another intersectoral dependent on the FAISEM public Foundation. The text presents the previous characteristics, the lines of work developed, and the main results obtained, with a positive assessment in relation to the initial situation, but also with important aspects not adequately resolved and that need subsequent developments that, however, are not being addressed today.