Mental Health Indicators for the Brazilian Psychosocial Care Network: A proposal

OBJECTIVE: to propose Mental Health Indicators aimed at management of the Mental Health Care Network, starting with convergence of their use, in countries with public health organization. METHOD: an exploratory analysis of the indicators adopted and used in these countries, from the detailed analysis of their respective normative documents, considering the World Health Organization guidelines. After selection of the indicators, the Mental Health Matrix was adopted as a suggestion for their development and application in the Brazilian Psychosocial Care Network. The matrix was prepared in two dimensions, respecting the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the indicators studied, as follows: geographical (national/regional, local, individual), and time (entry, process and results). RESULTS: the analysis indicates 41 indicators that presented diverse evidence regarding their use. All were allocated in the Mental Health Matrix, contributing as a metric to analyze the purpose of the Mental Health services, in the levels and phases of each dimension. CONCLUSION: the indicators selected, distributed in the different Mental Health Matrix dimensions, are being made available for their use in management and in the clinical practice, as well as for scientific studies and, in the future, to be used as definers of Mental Health policies.