The Ability of Psychosocial Care Centers Specialized in Alcohol and Drugs to Handle Crises

Objective: (1) To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate CAPS AD's ability to handle crises. (2) The ability to handle crises of the CAPS AD from downtown São Paulo was 86.6%. (3) Of the nine users referred to other services, only one evolved to hospitalization. to assess the ability of 24-hour Psychosocial Care Centers specialized in Alcohol and Other Drugs to handle the users' crises in comprehensive care.

Method: a quantitative, evaluative, and longitudinal study was conducted from February to November 2019. The initial sample consisted of 121 users, who were part of the comprehensibly care in crises by two 24-hour Psychosocial Care Centers specialized in Alcohol and other Drugs in downtown São Paulo. These users were re-evaluated 14 days after admission. The ability to handle the crisis was assessed using a validated indicator. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression of mixed-effects models.

Results: 67 users (54.9%) finished the follow-up period. During crises, nine users (13.4%; p=0.470) were referred to other services from the health network: seven due to clinical complications, one due to a suicide attempt, and another for psychiatric hospitalization. The ability to handle the crisis in the services was 86.6%, which was evaluated as positive.

Conclusion: both of the services analyzed were able to handle crises in their territory, avoiding hospitalizations and enjoying network support when necessary, thus achieving the de-institutionalization objectives.