The Flower Workshop: a social self-organizing practice in mental health nursing

Abstract

Aims: We depart from the theory of Self-Organizing Systems applied to the practice of mental health nursing in open, public health care services. The present study aimed at understanding how the participants evaluate the importance of the Flower Workshop for their lives. Methods: It is an investigation of qualitative nature that took place in two units of the Brazilian Family Health Strategy service, using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. Results: The subjects valued the workshop as a facilitating event, promoting the feeling of belonging, enhancement of interpersonal relations and integration of emotional, ideative and corporal experiences in a psychosocial rehabilitation context. Conclusion: We analysed the reports of participants in three categories, which indicate that the workshop provided: a) An extended care and search for meaning; b) Changes in conduct; and c) An augmented social network.