Apoio Matricial: um estudo bibliográfico

Alexandra Iglesias, Luziane Zacché Avellar

This article presents a bibliographical review of matrix support in mental health. A search was conducted in the Virtual Health Library and the LILACS, SciELO and Google Scholar databases using the key words: "matrix support in mental health." Fourteen articles were located with the desired characteristics, which indicates that only a restricted number of publications are in circulation. The articles were analyzed with respect to their structural and methodological aspects, which revealed the absolute predominance of the use of qualitative methods and health professionals as the target research population. The same articles were then analyzed for their theoretical discussions. Among other issues, the importance of matrix support to enhance the primary health care teams provided to people suffering from psychic distress is highlighted. However, there is still considerable confusion regarding the proposal of the matrix support and shared responsibilities between teams of reference and mental health professionals, which emphasizes the need for training of these professionals, as well as better coordination and organization of the mental health care network.