At a time when experiments with the function of institutional support are being implemented in many public healthcare services in Brazil, it becomes necessary to analyze and share the experiences so that the effects that such actions imprint on healthcare practices within Brazilian Health System (SUS) can be evaluated and boosted. Starting from contextualization of the origins and transformations of the tool concept of institutional support, the clinical, political and institutional dimensions of the support function were affirmed and the methodology and effects of the experience of institutional support on the teams of workers and managers in the healthcare districts of Freguesia do Ó, Brasilândia, São Paulo (2010-2012), were made clear.
Institutional support; Humanization; Brazilian Health System; Support function