Matrix Support and Primary Health Care

Abstract

This paper presents the proposal for Matrix Support and Reference Teams as a resource to organize primary health care, with the purpose of reducing health care fragmentation, consolidating clinical responsibility, valuing interdisciplinary care, and contributing to regulate health care networks. These arrangements aim to build, in the managerial scope, a democratic organizational culture, and in the epistemological perspective, knowledge handling that is committed to cases singularity and that enables a dynamic balance between the knowledge of the different professionals of a team or of a health care network. The experience of the Family Health Support Teams and the pioneer experience of the city of Campinas, state of São Paulo, in Matrix Support are discussed.