Consensus Statements Regarding the Multidisciplinary Care of Limb Amputation Patients in Disasters or Humanitarian Emergencies: Report of the 2011 Humanitarian Action Summit Surgical Working Group on Amputations Following Disasters or Conflict

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 438-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Marie Knowlton ◽  
James E Gosney ◽  
Smita Chackungal ◽  
Eric Altschuler ◽  
Lynn Black ◽  
...  

AbstractLimb amputations are frequently performed as a result of trauma inflicted during conflict or disasters. As demonstrated during the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, coordinating care of these patients in austere settings is complex. During the 2011 Humanitarian Action Summit, consensus statements were developed for international organizations providing care to limb amputation patients during disasters or humanitarian emergencies. Expanded planning is needed for a multidisciplinary surgical care team, inclusive of surgeons, anesthesiologists, rehabilitation specialists and mental health professionals. Surgical providers should approach amputation using an operative technique that optimizes limb length and prosthetic fitting. Appropriate anesthesia care involves both peri-operative and long-term pain control. Rehabilitation specialists must be involved early in treatment, ideally before amputation, and should educate the surgical team in prosthetic considerations. Mental health specialists must be included to help the patient with community reintegration. A key step in developing local health systemsis the establishment of surgical outcomes monitoring. Such monitoring can optimizepatient follow-up and foster professional accountability for the treatment of amputation patients in disaster settings and humanitarian emergencies.

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
G. Cardoso ◽  
C. Coelho ◽  
J. Caldas de Almeida

The DEMoBinc study's main objective is to develop an instrument for assessing the living conditions, the quality of care, and the human rights of long-term mentally ill patients in psychiatric and social residential care. It started on March 2007, with 11 centres and 10 countries participating.The Portuguese centre has carried out a national literature review of mental health legislation, standards of care related with residential care for mental patients, and mandatory procedures for physical restraint and seclusion.A three-round Delphi exercise with four groups of experts - advocates, mental health professionals, service users, and carers - was also developed. In the first round the participants were asked to state the ten more important components of care helping recovery in institutional care for the long-term mentally ill. The results were sent back to be rated for their importance on a 5-point scale. Finally, the participants were asked to confirm or change their own scores in comparison with the calculated group median. Between twelve and 18 participants by group were contacted, and the overall rate of participation was 73%.A pilot study using the first draft of the DEMoBinc instrument was done, and refinement of the instrument is being carried out in twenty institutions and will be completed during the next months.The results of the Portuguese centre on the national literature review, the Delphi exercise, and the first phase refinement of the DEMoBinc instrument will be presented and discussed.


Geriatric Forensic Psychiatry: Principles and Practice is one of the first texts to provide a comprehensive review of important topics in the intersection of geriatric psychiatry, medicine, clinical neuroscience, forensic psychiatry, and law. It will speak to a broad audience among varied fields, including clinical and forensic psychiatry and mental health professionals, geriatricians and internists, attorneys and courts, regulators, and other professionals working with the older population. Topics addressed in this text, applied to the geriatric population, include clinical forensic evaluation, regulations and laws, civil commitment, different forms of capacity, guardianship, patient rights, medical-legal issues related to treatment, long term care and telemedicine, risk management, patient safety and error reduction, elder driving, sociopathy and aggression, offenders and the adjudication process, criminal evaluations, corrections, ethics, culture, cognitive impairment, substance abuse, trauma, older professionals, high risk behavior, and forensic mental health training and research. Understanding the relationship between clinical issues, laws and regulations, and managing risk and improving safety, will help to serve the growing older population.


Author(s):  
Apryl A. Alexander ◽  
Megan E. Harrelson

Childhood exposure to trauma is prevalent and has been shown to contribute to both immediate and long-term psychological distress and functional impairment. Most mental health professionals will encounter trauma-related issues in their work, regardless of their specialty or the context in which they work, however, in rural communities it may be difficult for mental health practitioners to seek specialty training in working with survivors of trauma. The aim of this chapter is to provide practitioners with basic knowledge about the effects of trauma on children and adolescents, clinical skills and available measures designed to appropriately assess exposure to trauma and subsequent trauma-related symptoms, and ethical and cultural considerations required when assessing trauma in children and adolescents in rural communities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 157-160
Author(s):  
Ammar Ahmed ◽  
Naeem Aslam Chughtai, PhD ◽  
Qurat- Ul- Ain

Evidences related to neuropsychological impact of COVID-19 and its long-term side effects are beginning to emerge that may take years to catalogue the number of diseases and their treatments. Nonetheless, as neuropsychologists are evaluating COVID-19 survivors, a debate related to the psychiatric and neurocognitive sequels of past outbreaks, along with the recurrent co- occurrence of PTSD and acquired brain injuries, may be enlightening. This paper is highlighting the emergence of mental health issues that can be addressed and treatments can be provided according to the need of time. Technology has also been increasing day by day according to the current needs of public. COVID- 19 crisis has now shifted the focus towards the role of digital health care. For ensuring the best and right use of tele-health and app tools in such crises, it is suggested that there is a need for training of mental health professionals to ensure proper protocols for improved efficacy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Cusveller ◽  
Maarten van Garderen ◽  
Joan Roozemond-Kroon

Abstract Aim: To explore how mental health professionals address spiritual care for outpatients in weekly multidisciplinary care meetings (MDM), and to explore the barriers and facilitators in the ways health professionals address spiritual care in those meetings. Method: Two teams of mental health professionals providing care for psychiatric outpatients are included. Qualitative data were collected from audio recordings of multidisciplinary meetings and from focus-group interviews afterwards. Data were analysed using ‘open coding’. Results: Spiritual care was not frequently addressed mostly due to the requirements of the health insurance reimbursement system. Aspects of spirituality addressed in these meetings pertained mainly to meaningful daily activities. Addressing spiritual care was facilitated, on the other hand, by a holistic focus on health and recovery-oriented care. Conclusion: In ambulatory mental healthcare spirituality is sparsely addressed and, when addressed, few aspects of spirituality come into view. Facilitating healthcare professionals’ awareness of their clinical perspective is an essential step to improve spiritual care for psychiatric outpatients.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 470-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.P. Patel ◽  
J. Russell ◽  
K. Allden ◽  
T.S. Betancourt ◽  
P. Bolton ◽  
...  

AbstractIntroduction: The Working Group (WG) on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support participated in its second Humanitarian Action Summit in 2011. This year, the WG chose to focus on a new goal: reviewing practice related to transitioning mental health and psychosocial support programs from the emergency phase to long-term development. The Working Group's findings draw on a review of relevant literature as well as case examples.Objectives: The objective of the Working Group was to identify factors that promote or hinder the long term sustainability of emergency mental health and psychosocial interventions in crisis and conflict, and to provide recommendations for transitioning such programs from relief to development.Methods: The Working Group (WG) conducted a review of relevant literature and collected case examples based on experiences and observations of working group members in implementing mental and psychosocial programming in the field. The WG focused on reviewing literature on mental health and psychosocial programs and interventions that were established in conflict, disaster, protracted crisis settings, or transition from acute phase to development phase. The WG utilized case examples from programs in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, Sierra Leone, Aceh (Indonesia), Sri Lanka, and New Orleans (United States).Results: The WG identified five key thematic areas that should be addressed in order to successfully transition lasting and effective mental health and psychosocial programs from emergency settings to the development phase. The five areas identified were as follows: Government and Policy, Human Resources and Training, Programming and Services, Research and Monitoring, and Finance.Conclusions: The group identified several recommendations for each thematic area, which were generated from key lessons learned by working group members through implementing mental health and psychosocial support programs in a variety of settings, some successfully sustained and some that were not.


2019 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 28-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel M. Perera

Abstract Some of the most immediate health effects of the 2008 economic crisis concerned the mind, not the body. Rates of generalized anxiety, chronic depression, and even suicide spiked in many European societies. This viewpoint highlights the role of mental health professionals in responding to this emergency, and argues that their sustained mobilization is necessary to its long-term resolution.


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