Social technology and people's mental health: informal work in an urban context

This article presents the experience of implementing the Health Promotion Extension Project through Social and Mental Health Education through Applied Technology, that is, Plant Biotechnology applied as a resource for Eco-Socio-Environmental Technology products. Aimed at members of indigenous peoples and ethnic groups in Rio de Janeiro, users of the Environmental Health, Parasitology and Bioethics Project (SAPB-LIPAT/FF/UFRJ), the project was carried out in an intersectoral partnership with the Laboratory for Studies on Aging Processes (PROVE/IPUB/UFRJ) and the Amazon Biobusiness Center (CBA), in a multi, inter and transdisciplinary approach. The article discusses the importance of social actors in the operationalization of public policy guidelines, with a focus on the promotion and defense of human rights, especially with regard to the right to work. The participation of the Sateré-Mawé and Tukano indigenous people was highlighted, demonstrating the leading role of these groups in solving local problems, which strengthened their cultures, worldviews and self-direction, demystifying attitudinal barriers. The present study was initiated through anamnesis in ethnopsychiatry (whose approach includes cultural anthropology). This study included the participation of these individuals from indigenous peoples and other peoples in an urban context in Rio de Janeiro, demonstrating how the anamnesis of unique ethnographic narratives favored investment in local study and work with elements of their cultures, reinforcing social ties and civic contribution. The project also explored procedures in plant biotechnology, specifically the ecophysiology of Euterpe oleraceae (Açaí) seeds, to analyze the desired biological effects of plant extracts of ethnic origin (Euphorbia tirucalli, Bixa orellana, Punica granatum and Tagetes erecta). Only E. tirucalli exerted antifungal action on the seeds used for informal work (crafts). In this way, equity of access and mental health were promoted through listening, but also through the resolution of concrete local problems, in a simple and viable way, maintaining the participation and autonomy of the participants through informal work. However, the expansion of this small and successful initiative depends on the engagement of a greater number of professionals, teachers and public managers committed to promoting dignity through work for these populations.