MATRIX SUPPORT IN MENTAL HEALTH AT PRIMARY CARE IN CAUCAIA-CE, BRAZIL

Matrix Support is an organizational arrangement and a methodology for managing work in health, which aims to get a widened clinic and dialogical integration among different specialties. This study seeks to evaluate integrated primary mental health care that was implemented in Caucaia since 2012, through matrix support care. An exploratory qualitative study was held in two health centers, to evaluate this implementation there. Open interviews, individual and collectives, were held done with two psychiatrists and three family doctors, and the material was analyzed through content analysis technique. Four categories were detected: definition of matrix support; how to implement and develop it; advantages and strengths; and limits of primary mental health matrix care. It was considered extremely useful, facilitating the implementation of: integrated teaching, learning and care process; co-responsible teamwork; comprehensive care; equity; increasing access; decentralization, use of community resources and mental health stigma reduction. The joint consultation was well accepted and distance liaison also relevant. Community activities must be developed along with other professionals of the matrix support teams, Family Health Support Centers and Community Mental Health Centers (CAPS). Registering psychotropic users was very helpful. The importance of Community Health workers was highlighted. The centralization of psychotropic dispensing at CAPS and precarious work relationships represented major barrier in Caucaia. The deficiency in the training of general practitioners and psychiatrists in mental health collaborative care was considered the major obstacle. In primary mental health care in Brazil nowadays, matrix support arises as a solution to improve training of teams and access to care.