Family in the matrix support in mental health: concepts and practices in national scientific output

Abstract

Scientific output that addresses family relationships and health has reached new dimensions with the shift of care strategies based on the individual to those based on the family as instigated by the Family Health Program. The objective of this study was to analyze the concepts of family and care practices in the scientific output on matrix support in mental health in primary care available in the Virtual Health Library database from 1998 to 2010. Therefore, an integrative review was conducted that used natural language as a search strategy. The data were analyzed using an adapted content analysis technique that designated the following categories as the core meanings: the family as the focus of the direction of assistance for matrix support, the family as a housing territory, the family as having singularities and the family as co-responsible for health care. The results demonstrated a low recurrence of the term “family” and the still strong persistence of the idea of the family as a household unit and the locus of intervention for health care professionals. This study discusses the changes in the approaches to thinking about and working with families based on a paradigm that considers the individual and his/her family as participating subjects.