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Rio de Janeiro: In a city where homelessness and drug addiction often intersect, a growing network of psychosocial care centres is reshaping lives and restoring dignity.

Rio de Janeiro: In a city where homelessness and drug addiction often intersect, a growing network of psychosocial care centres is reshaping lives and restoring dignity.

At the CAPS ad III Carolina Maria de Jesus (Psychosocial Care Center for Alcohol and Other Drugs), stories of struggle and resilience revealed how recovery programmes are offering not just treatment, but a pathway back to stability, family, and hope.

The centre is located in the São Cristóvão neighbourhood, in the central part of Rio de Janeiro. This municipal mental health unit operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with the provision of overnight respite care for registered service users.

In total, 68 healthcare professionals work at the facility, including physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and others, to provide care for individuals with mental disorders resulting from the harmful use of alcohol and/or other drugs who require intensive monitoring.

Currently, 709 users are registered at the unit. Rio de Janeiro City Hall operates 10 CAPSad units out of a total of 38 Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS).

Leonor Ambrosia de Miranda, 55, is a former homeless drug user who was taken in by the Moving Forward programme, a municipal initiative that combines healthcare, social assistance, and employment opportunities.

Ms Miranda overcame her cocaine addiction through treatment at the Dona Ivone Lara Psychosocial Care Center (CAPS), where she continues to receive weekly psychotherapy. She also received dental prosthetics and treatment for diabetes care that addressed both her physical and emotional recovery.

Her journey illustrates the potential of integrated support.

Within months of joining the programme, Ms Miranda secured employment as a general services assistant, rented her own home, and eventually became a contracted employee. By February, she achieved a milestone she once thought impossible. She was able to buy her own house.

"This life is about second chances. Recovery centers give people the opportunity to start again, reconnect, and find hope,'' she told a group of foreign journalists from Thailand, Mexico, Kenya, India, the UK, Colombia, South Africa and Brazil.

The media were taken to visit this site, which was part of the 4th 2026 Partnership for Healthy Cities Summit in Rio de Janeiro recently. More than 200 public health and city leaders from 55 cities worldwide attended the summit, along with these journalists.

Discussions at the global summit focused on preventing non-communicable diseases, improving food safety in schools, tackling drug overdoses and reducing road traffic injuries.

Ms Miranda said her son had also struggled with drug addiction. She lost everything and spent four months homeless until she was eventually taken in by this recovery centre, which provided shelter, support, and a chance to rebuild.

She said the centre not only addressed her immediate needs but also worked to reconnect her with her family, underscoring the importance of social and health services working hand in hand.

Alessandro Peçanha de Souza, manager of CAPS ad III Carolina Maria de Jesus, is a psychologist with 22 years of experience in Brazil's Unified Health System (SUS).

He said he has dedicated his career to strengthening psychosocial care networks. Under his leadership, the centre has expanded access, humanised treatment, and consolidated public mental health policies.

"Psychology is at the heart of these challenges," Mr Souza said, emphasising that recovery requires compassion, teamwork, and community-based solutions.

Mr Souza said homelessness and addiction are inseparable issues demanding integrated solutions. Recovery programmes were praised not only for helping individuals overcome substance abuse but also for rebuilding family ties and community connections.

"It's about reconnecting the person with their family," he said, pointing to the broader social healing that accompanies recovery.

Mr Souza also called for stronger partnerships across health, housing, and social support systems.

Effective recovery requires more than medical treatment, it requires compassion, family involvement, and community solidarity, he said.

Overdose prevention

Daliah Heller, vice president of Vital Strategies, who is responsible for overdose prevention initiatives, highlighted how cities worldwide are tackling the growing challenge of drug overdoses. The discussion focused on the urgent need for better data, stronger systems, and stigma-free communication around drug use.

Ms Heller said overdose deaths are often undercounted in statistics because drug involvement is not always properly recorded. "We have an opportunity to build public health capacity to count deaths where drugs are the driving factor," she said.

She said cities are now working to improve data collection and strengthen systems that interact with people who use drugs from healthcare and treatment programmes to housing and criminal justice.

She also emphasised the importance of reframing drug use as a public health issue rather than a moral failure.

"Addiction is preventable, and overdose is a preventable cause of death," Ms Heller said.

Two major areas of focus have emerged among participating cities. First, many are targeting vulnerable populations, particularly people experiencing homelessness, who face higher risks of overdose.

Rio de Janeiro was cited as a leading example, with an intersectoral programme addressing homelessness, drug use, and mental health simultaneously. Other cities, including Buenos Aires, Athens, and Milan, are expanding access to naloxone, a life-saving medication for overdose response.

Second, cities are preparing for the threat of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, which have devastated communities in North America. Municipalities like Bogotá and London are building surveillance systems to monitor drug supplies and provide early warnings.

"Overdose prevention is essential. By combining data-driven strategies, cross-sector collaboration, and compassionate communication, cities are working to save lives and reshape the response to drug use."