Rôle du communautaire en santé mentale dans un système en évolution : état des connaissances et recommandations

Guy Grenier, Ph. D.
Professionnel de recherche, Centre de recherche de l’Hôpital Douglas, Montréal.
Marie-Josée Fleury, Ph. D.
Professeure agrégée, Département de psychiatrie, Université McGill, cher­cheure, Centre de recherche de l’Hôpital Douglas, Montréal.

Résumé

Cet article a pour objectifs 1) de tracer l’historique et la place des orga­nismes communautaires en santé mentale (OCSM) ainsi que leurs valeurs et pra­tiques spécifiques et 2) d’étudier l’impact du Plan d’action en santé mentale (PASM) 2005-2010 sur leur fonctionnement et leurs relations avec le réseau public. Les auteurs abordent la diversité des OSCM en fonction des dimensions suivantes : historique des OCSM au Québec, typologie, territoires couverts et financement, modalité de pratiques, et regroupement. L’étude montre que malgré la place qu’ils occupent dans la dispensation des services, les OCSM perçoivent un certain recul quant à la reconnaissance de leur expertise par le réseau public depuis la mise en place du PASM 2005-2010. Leurs critiques concernent surtout les questions de leur sous-financement, la crainte d’une perte de leur autonomie lors de la signature d’une entente de services ainsi que des lacunes sur le plan de la gouvernance et de la concertation. Un financement plus adéquat des OCSM, principalement pour les groupes d’entraide et les OCSM offrant de la réadaptation psychosociale, de l’intégration aux études et au travail, la reconnaissance de la nécessité d’une plu­ralité d’approches, ainsi que la reconstitution de tables de concertation ayant des pouvoirs décisionnels sont des outils pouvant permettre aux OCSM de jouer plus adéquatement leurs rôles.

Mots clés organismes communautaires, santé mentale, réforme, pratiques, relations interorganisationnelles

The role of the mental health community in an evolving mental health system. State of knowledge and recommendations

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this article are: 1) to trace the history and role of mental health community organizations (MHCO) in the Quebec mental health system as well as their specific values and practices; and 2) to examine the impact of the Quebec Mental Health Plan 2005-2010 on the functioning of com­munity organizations and their relations with the public healthcare system.

Methods: This article draws upon writings produced by the principal provincial and regional community organization associations in Québec, as well as results of previous studies related to inter-organizational relations among MHCO.

Results: The Quebec community-based system consists of several successive generations of the MHCO, each constructed within a particular context. Before 1960, the Canadian Mental Health Association offered activities for promotion and prevention in mental health and participated in the development of several MHCO. The 1970s witnessed the formation of groups aimed at the protection of human rights and the first alternative resources. During the 1980s and 90s, a proliferation of MHCO followed upon their formal recognition by the Ministère de la Santé et des services sociaux (MSSS). These new organizations were established not so much in opposi­tion, or as an alternative, to the public mental health system, but in complement with it. By 2012-13, there were 412 MCHO financed by the MSSS offering services to the population. Roughly half were located in the regions of Montreal, Montérégie and the Capitale Nationale. The MHCO are distinguished from public institutions by a number of characteristics: 1) treatment based not on diagnosis but on the overall situation of the person; 2) shared experience with peers; and 3) empower­ment, inviting the person to become involved in decisions concerning his/her treatment and service use as well as decisions that concern the functioning of the organization; 4) establishment of more egalitarian relationships between service users and treating professionals; and 5) rootedness of the organization within the community. MCHO are grouped at the provincial level according to their functions, their ideological affinity, and or their particular mandate, but there is no national classification of community organizations as yet. The financing of community organizations remains a principal source of discontent. The MSSS has indicated that the overall financing of MCHO should correspond to at least 10% of global expen­ditures for mental health programming, whereas the actual budget is equivalent to only 8.8%. This underfunding obliges community organizations to reduce ser­vices despite demands for increased financial assistance, which runs the risk of provoking increased “revolving door” situations, and the utilization of emergency services in cases of service users transferred from hospitals to the Health Social Services Centers, who are in difficulty after losing contact with their service pro­viders who would otherwise have provided follow-up. As well, MCHO fear the loss of their autonomy and of being reduced to the role of secondary services in signing these service agreements. The current reform would represent a step backward for MHCO in terms of recognition of their expertise. The former consultation structures have been dispossessed of any real power, decision making now being in the hands of the regional agency and directors of institutions. Numerous relocations of per­sonnel have also lead to breaks in contact between MCHO and the public system, as these relationships were usually informal.

Conclusions: A number of recom­mendations emanate from these findings that may permit MHCO to respond more adequately to the needs of the population served without calling into question their autonomy: 1) offer more adequate financing, particularly for self-help groups and organizations offering psychosocial rehabilitation, access to education and work reintegration; 2) allocate specific services exclusively to the community-based system in order to avoid duplication in services; 3) recognize a multiplicity of approaches; and 4) reconstruct appropriate decision making structures.

Keywords community organizations, mental health, reform, practices, inter-organizational relations.

Auteurs : Guy Grenier, Ph. D. et Marie-Josée Fleury, Ph. D.
Titre : Rôle du communautaire en santé mentale dans un système en évolution : état des connaissances et recommandations
Revue : Santé mentale au Québec, Volume 39, numéro 1, printemps 2014, p. 119-136

URI : http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1025910ar
DOI : 10.7202/1025910ar

Tous droits réservés © Département de psychiatrie de l’Université de Montréal, 2014