The aim of this research was to understand the meaning of the matrix support for mental health offered by the staff of a Centro de Atenção Psicossocial - CAPS (Psychosocial Care Center) under professionals working in three units of the Estatégia de Saúde da Família - ESF (Family Health Strategy) in Goiânia, Goiás. Twelve professionals were interviewed from a semi-structured interview, consisting of open and closed questions, which investigated: demographic data of the participants; vocational training; working time in the ESF; understanding of the matrix support. The data pointed to joint activities among the CAPS and the family health teams, and the CAPS psychiatrist and psychologist professionals have been most often associated to the matrix support. The study also identified that was requested the matrix support for users who needed medication review and who had previous psychiatric diagnosis or inappropriate behavior. According to the interviewers, the importance of reviewing the medication and the presence of the CAPS in the territory were positives aspects related to the matrix support, which indicates the existence of the medical knowledge as a guiding behaviors and a distant care of integrality. The article concludes that the family health teams recognize the contribution of the logic of the matrix support, but that is centered on an understanding of biologicist character on psychological distress.
Matrix support; psychosocial care center; family health
