What has been learned from joint working between mental health professionals, patients and users of psychiatric services, their families and friends?

AbstractObjectives: The aim of this study was to determine the views of both individuals attending the mental health services (attendees) and mental health professionals in relation to how attendees and staff should be addressed, how attendees should be described, and how staff should be attired.Methods: We surveyed 132 attendees of the West Galway Mental Health Services and 97 mental health professionals in relation to how they prefer to be addressed (first name/ title and surname/ no preference) the description of attendees (patient / client / service user / no preference) and the attire of mental health staff (casual / smart / no preference). We also ascertained how mental health professionals believed attendees would view these issues.Results: Attendees preferred to be described as patients rather than clients or service users by all mental health professionals, with 46-54% of attendees preferring this term “patient” compared to 14-17% preferring the term “client”, 11-13% preferring the term “service user” and 20-25% having no preference (p < 0.001). They preferred to address doctors by their title and surname (61%) but other mental health professionals by their first names (60-69%) (p < 0.001). Attendees had a strong preference for being addressed by their first names by all the mental health professionals (86-91%) (p < 0.001). Doctors preferred to be attired formally (88%), compared to nurses (50%) or other mental health professionals (42%) (p = 0.002). Attendees had no preference in relation to the attire of doctors but preferred other mental health professionals to be attired informally.Conclusions: The study demonstrates that despite the increased use of several non-medical terms to describe attendees of mental health services; the preferred term of attendees of the psychiatric services in both in-patient and out-patient settings remains ‘patient’. However, this is not universally the case, and the ascertainment of the preference of the attendee at the first encounter with the health professional should be ascertained. We also demonstrated that attendees preferences in relation to both “dress and address” of doctors is significantly different to their preference for nurses or other allied mental health professionals; which may reflect a wish for a less familiar and more formal interaction with doctors.

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War and the crisis of mental health in Afghanistan

International Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/s1749367600003192 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 55-57 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yousuf A. Rahimi ◽

S. Azimi

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Mental Health Professionals ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Psychiatric Services ◽

Stages Of Development ◽

Long Term Impact

Mental health and psychiatric services in Afghanistan have gone through various stages of development and crisis but the long-term impact of recent wars and conflict on the country's mental health services has not been evaluated. What is obvious is the shortage of trained mental health professionals in the country.

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A 7-year partnership between psychiatric services in Russia and the UK

Psychiatric Bulletin ◽

10.1192/pb.29.4.144 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 144-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mikhail Bakanov ◽

Roger Bloor ◽

Vasily Emptsov ◽

David Pearson

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Human Rights ◽

Soviet Union ◽

Mental Health Professionals ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Psychiatric Services ◽

Service Development ◽

Psychiatric Institutions ◽

The Soviet Union ◽

The Uk

Historically, relationships with mental health professionals working in Russia have been difficult to sustain due to problems with access and perceived human rights infringements that existed earlier (Poloahij, 2001). This has resulted in many Russian psychiatric institutions having little opportunity to collaborate in international research or to take part in exchanges of information on service development. However, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has been brought back into spheres of international cooperation in healthcare.

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Ethical and Contextual Issues when Collaborating with Educators and School Mental Health Professionals

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198732365.013.52 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Allison K. Zoromski ◽

Steven W. Evans ◽

Heather Davis Gahagan ◽

Verenea J. Serrano ◽

Alex S. Holdaway

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Professionals ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Psychiatric Care ◽

Interdisciplinary Communication ◽

School Mental Health ◽

Scoring Systems ◽

Psychiatric Services ◽

Risk Assessments ◽

School Professionals

Ethical and contextual challenges that psychiatric professionals encounter when working with school professionals are discussed in an effort to maximize effective and ethical psychiatric care. Given the interdisciplinary environment and contextual issues inherent in providing psychiatric services to students; strategies for collaborative interdisciplinary communication are discussed. Several unique issues regarding confidentiality and informed consent when providing mental health services to patients are described. A variety of assessment issues are considered, including issues regarding special education classification, computerized scoring systems, risk assessments, communication of assessment results and recommendations to school professionals. Issues related to coordination and sequencing of treatments and communication about medication are also reviewed.

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The value of work in the 1980s

Psychiatric Bulletin ◽

10.1192/pb.13.5.231 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 231-233 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Geoff Shepherd

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Mental Health Professionals ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Psychiatric Services ◽

The Other ◽

Psychiatric Disabilities ◽

Ambivalent Attitude ◽

The One ◽

The Way

Mental health professionals seem to have a curiously ambivalent attitude towards work. On the one hand, it is generally accepted that the experience of unemployment is often associated with severe social and psychological distress. On the other, we seem reluctant to strive to provide work for those patients who have the greatest social and psychiatric disabilities and for whom work, in all its forms, may have the greatest benefit. I don't wish to speculate on the psychological roots of this ambivalence, although I suspect that it stems, at least in part, from the way in which we all feel about our own jobs. However, there are other reasons why the concept of work has always sat uneasily within the context of psychiatric services.

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War and the crisis of mental health in Afghanistan

International Psychiatry ◽

10.1017/s1749367600003192 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 55-57

Author(s):

Yousuf A. Rahimi ◽

S. Azimi

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Mental Health Professionals ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Psychiatric Services ◽

Stages Of Development ◽

Long Term Impact

Mental health and psychiatric services in Afghanistan have gone through various stages of development and crisis but the long-term impact of recent wars and conflict on the country's mental health services has not been evaluated. What is obvious is the shortage of trained mental health professionals in the country.

Download Full-text