Objective:

Describe the level of communication offered to the community within the framework of the district mental health network, taking as reference the risk for psychoactive substance use and intrafamily violence of a group of community leaders.

Material and methods:

This is an exploratory descriptive research, with field transectional design. Twenty female vulnerable community leaders representing 200 communal leaders from the District of Santa Marta, Colombia, aged between 21 and 60, participated. Two tests were applied, after validation: ASSIST v3.1, to measure the consumption of psychoactive substances; And the Risk Scale in situations of intra-family violence -AURORA-. Statistical analysis included a univariate analysis to establish participants' consumption risks; And a bivariate analysis using the chi-square test to determine the independence of the variables. In addition, an informal interview was conducted with 4 of the leaders.

Results:

It was found that the age and schooling of the leaders are determinant, at younger age greater risk of alcohol consumption and intrafamily violence; And, the higher the alcohol consumption, the higher the risk of intrafamily violence. Likewise, it was found that the majority follow the path of mental health towards the National Police and not to the specialized entities of the District.

Conclusions:

There is a significant early risk and poor communication about the mental health route in this population, which could be affecting their social coexistence and mental health.

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