[Family evaluation: social support network in mental health care]

This study aims at identifying the social support network of a user and his family in a Psychosocial Care Center (CAPS) follow-up. Such study is a subproject of the research named Evaluation of Psychosocial Care Centers, from the southern region of Brazil, at a CAPS of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The subjects were a user and a relative of him. It is a qualitative research of case study type that makes use of the Calgary Model of Family Evaluation. The collecting of data provided the construction of the genogram and of the eco-map. The analysis focused on structural, functional and developmental evaluations. The user's bonds and his relationships with the micro and macro family space were identified by showing the social support networks and the functions that they perform in the user's daily life. The social support networks are an important therapeutic resource because they provide the possibility of offering a treatment addressed to the life of the subject. They also take in count his culture and they broaden care actions as well.