Comprehensive care, intersectoral action and healthcare: paths to face suicide

Suicide is a serious public health problem that causes high emotional, social and economic costs to the patient, the family and the health services. This study aimed to conduct a narrative review of the literature on comprehensive care, intersectoral action and healthcare, attempting to articulate these terms to suicide prevention and to the treatment of people with suicidal behavior. Although these terms are consensually used in Brazilian public health policies, there still is a large distance between theory and practices that continue to reinforce a hospital-centered, biologist and verticalized model, far from routines that guarantee autonomy and from the construction of responsible bonds between users and workers and among different sectors. Reviewing these actions critically and mirroring plans that have had good results may be a way out for suicide prevention.