The Greater Vancouver Mental Health Service Society: 20 Years' Experience in Urban Community Mental Health

1993 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 308-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Sladen-Dew ◽  
Douglas A. Bigelow ◽  
Ralph Buckley ◽  
Stephen Bornemann
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Mentally Disabled ◽  
Community Agencies ◽  
Persons With Schizophrenia

Caring for people in the community with persistent and disabling mental illnesses presents a major challenge to government, planners and mental health professionals. The success with which mentally disabled people are integrated into community life says much about the society in which we live. This article describes the experience of the Greater Vancouver Mental Health Service Society in offering community-based mental health services to persons with schizophrenia and other major mental disorders over the past 20 years. The key to its success lies in a decentralized, relatively non hierarchical organizational structure which allows committed and skilled multidisciplinary teams to work with patients and their families in their community. The resulting services are fully integrated within the fabric of the community and are responsive to local needs. Partnerships among professionals, patients, families and community agencies result in work that is creative, productive and effective.

The next step: a strategic focus on physical activity and sedentary behaviour in Irish mental health care

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Matthews ◽  
M. Cowman ◽  
S. Denieffe
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Sedentary Behaviour ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Mental Health Nurses ◽  
Health Strategy

People with severe mental illnesses have dramatically reduced life expectancy compared with the general population, which is largely attributed to physical comorbidity. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour interventions offer a safe and viable therapeutic resource for multi-disciplinary mental health care teams. The accumulating evidence supporting the role of these interventions has changed the focus of mental health strategy in some countries, with new developing roles for certain mental health professionals in this field. However, in Ireland the absence of specialised exercise practitioners places a leadership role for mental health nurses in this regard. National mental health strategy in Ireland should prioritise physical activity and sedentary behaviour interventions, make recommendations for the integration of specialised exercise practitioners in all mental health multidisciplinary teams, and recommend the provision of training and awareness for mental health nurses and other multidisciplinary professionals who are already well placed to address this issue.

Mental health service use by Americans with severe mental illnesses

2000 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 147-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. E. Narrow ◽  
D. A. Regier ◽  
G. Norquist ◽  
D. S. Rae ◽  
C. Kennedy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Service Use ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Mental Health Service Use ◽  
Health Service Use

Changing prescribing patterns in an Irish community mental health service

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-14
Author(s):  
R. Rowntree ◽  
N. McCarthy ◽  
L. Feeney
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Business Intelligence ◽  
Community Mental Health Services ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Prescribing Patterns ◽  
Community Mental Health Service ◽  
Time Period

ObjectivesMedication is an important component of the treatment of many mental illnesses. Very little information is available about the particular medications that are being prescribed by community mental health services and how this has changed over time. We set out to obtain details of psychiatric medications being prescribed by one Irish community mental health service.MethodAll prescribing by the Cluain Mhuire Community Mental Health Service became electronic during 2004. Using Business Intelligence software, we obtained details of all psychiatric medications prescribed from 2005 to 2016. We compared numbers of prescriptions written in the first 6 years (2005–2010) with the following 6 (2011–2016).ResultsOlanzapine was the most commonly prescribed medication throughout but its use declined by one-quarter over the study period. Clozapine, quetiapine, aripiprazole and haloperidol prescribing increased. Prescriptions for mood stabilisers and antidepressants fell by 25%. Sedative prescriptions declined by almost 50%. Absolute numbers of prescriptions written for methylphenidate and pregabalin were small but increased dramatically over the time period.ConclusionsThis community mental health service prescribed less of most psychiatric medications in 2016, than had been the case in 2005. This is despite an increase in the numbers of patients seen over the same period. It is not clear if this pattern is echoed in other services.

scholarly journals Attitudes towards seclusion and restraint in mental health settings: findings from a large, community-based survey of consumers, carers and mental health professionals

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 535-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Kinner ◽  
C. Harvey ◽  
B. Hamilton ◽  
L. Brophy ◽  
C. Roper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Consumer Safety ◽  
Mental Health Settings

Aims.There are growing calls to reduce, and where possible eliminate, the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health settings, but the attitudes and beliefs of consumers, carers and mental health professionals towards these practices are not well understood. The aim of this study was to compare the attitudes of mental health service consumers, carers and mental health professionals towards seclusion and restraint in mental health settings. In particular, it aimed to explore beliefs regarding whether elimination of seclusion and restraint was desirable and possible.Methods.In 2014, an online survey was developed and widely advertised in Australia via the National Mental Health Commission and through mental health networks. The survey adopted a mixed-methods design, including both quantitative and qualitative questions concerning participants’ demographic details, the use of seclusion and restraint in practice and their views on strategies for reducing and eliminating these practices.Results.In total 1150 survey responses were analysed. A large majority of participants believed that seclusion and restraint practices were likely to cause harm, breach human rights, compromise trust and potentially cause or trigger past trauma. Consumers were more likely than professionals to view these practices as harmful. The vast majority of participants believed that it was both desirable and feasible to eliminate mechanical restraint. Many participants, particularly professionals, believed that seclusion and some forms of restraint were likely to produce some benefits, including increasing consumer safety, increasing the safety of staff and others and setting behavioural boundaries.Conclusions.There was strong agreement across participant groups that the use of seclusion and restraint is harmful, breaches human rights and compromises the therapeutic relationship and trust between mental health service providers and those who experience these restrictive practices. However, some benefits were also identified, particularly by professionals. Participants had mixed views regarding the feasibility and desirability of eliminating these practices.

Demonstration of automated non-adherence and service disengagement risk monitoring with active follow-up for severe mental illness

2021 ◽  
pp. 000486742199880
Author(s):  
Niranjan Bidargaddi ◽  
Geoffrey Schrader ◽  
Hannah Myles ◽  
K Oliver Schubert ◽  
Yasmin van Kasteren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Health Clinic ◽  
Risk Monitoring ◽  
Medicare Data ◽  
Increased Risk

Aims: Medication cessation and service disengagement often precedes relapse in people with severe mental illnesses but currently specialist mental health services only become involved after a relapse. Early detection of non-adherence is needed to enable intervention to avert relapse. This paper aims to demonstrate how digitally automated non-adherence risk monitoring from Medicare data with active follow-up can work and perform in practice in a real-world mental health service setting. Methods: AI2 software is an automated risk monitoring tool to detect non-adherence using Medicare data. It was implemented prospectively in a cohort of 354 registered patients of a community mental health clinic between July 2019 and February 2020. Patients flagged as at risk by the software were reviewed by two clinicians. We describe the risks automatically flagged for non-adherence and the clinical responses. We examine differences in clinical and demographic factors in patients flagged at increased risk of non-adherence. Results: In total, 46.7% (142/304) were flagged by the software as at risk of non-adherence, and 22% (31/142) received an intervention following clinician review of their case notes. Patients flagged by the software were older in age and had more prior mental health treatment episodes. More alerts were associated with patients who had been transferred from the mental health service to the care of their general practitioners, and those with more alerts were more likely to receive a follow-up intervention. Conclusion: Digitally automated monitoring for non-adherence risk is feasible and can be integrated into clinical workflows in community psychiatric and primary care settings. The technology may assist clinicians and services to detect non-adherence behaviour early, thereby triggering interventions that have the potential to reduce rates of mental health deterioration and acute illness relapse.

scholarly journals Let us say what we need ourselves: report of the interview of mental health service users with schizophrenia in South-West Nigeria.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oyeyemi Olajumoke Oyelade ◽  
Nokuthula Gloria Nkosi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
High Tendency ◽  
South West ◽  
Low Middle Income Countries

Abstract Schizophrenia is one of the, most chronic mental illnesses that subjects’ individuals who are suffering from dictatorship and control by close associates/friends, family and health professionals. The productivity of individuals who have schizophrenia is also reduced, due to the debilitating effect of the illness. In some countries, the right of such individuals is protected by laws guiding their treatment, however in the majority of the low-middle income countries (64%), Nigeria included, there are no Mental Health Acts that protect the rights of individuals in such categories. Without law or guidance, individual health professionals engage in trial and error, subjective ideas, or dictatorship. However, in a situation where recovery has been achieved, which is a function of remission of symptoms, there is a need for mental health service users to take part in their care. When a mental health service users’ voice is heard and appreciated, there is a high tendency for quick improvement, and this makes rehabilitation goals achievable. This study, therefore, describes the rehabilitation activities for individuals with schizophrenia in South-West Nigeria. A descriptive qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews were used to gather information from mental health service users at the eight clinics of the two tertiary psychiatric institutions in South-West Nigeria. Twenty-nine mental health service users were interviewed. The results of the interview were analysed independently by both researchers through a content analysis approach, using NVIVO version 11. The results of the analysis were compared, and an agreement reached on the conclusion. This study revealed that there was no uniform approach to rehabilitation of individuals with schizophrenia in South-West Nigeria, and instances of dictatorship and dependence by professional on the choice of activities were eminent. For the few who were able to make an informed decision, the mental health service users did better on what they chose to do themselves than what the family and health professionals suggested. However, when the mental health service users, did what they felt was best for them; this indicated a certain level of rehabilitation. This study, therefore, encourages the development of practice guidelines for the rehabilitation of individuals with schizophrenia in Nigeria.

scholarly journals Features of Mental Health Service Provision During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Specialists Who Work with Suicide Prevention in Rural Areas

Psichologija ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 23-37
Author(s):  
Austėja Agnietė Čepulienė ◽  
Said Dadašev ◽  
Dovilė Grigienė ◽  
Miglė Marcinkevičiūtė ◽  
Greta Uržaitė ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Health Service Provision ◽  
Mental Health Service Provision

The COVID-19 pandemic can influence the situation of suicide rates and mental health in rural regions even more than in major cities. The aim of the current study was to explore the functioning of mental health service provision during the COVID-19 pandemic through interviews with mental health professionals and other specialists who work with suicide prevention in rural areas. Thirty specialists were interviewed using a semi-structured interview format. The following codes were identified during the thematic analysis: providing help during the pandemic (mental health professionals and institutions adapted to the conditions of the pandemic, remote counselling makes providing help more difficult, the help is less reachable); help-seeking during the pandemic (people seek less help because of the pandemic, seeking remote help is easier, the frequency of help seeking didn’t change); the effects and governing of the pandemic situation (the pandemic can have negative effects on mental health; after the pandemic mental health might get worse; the governing of the pandemic situation in Lithuania could be more fluent). The current study reveals positive aspects of mental health professionals’ adaptivity during the pandemic, as well as severe problems which are related to the access to the mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assertive Community Treatment for the Seriously Mentally Ill in Suburban Sydney: A Programme Description and Evaluation

1994 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 438-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Hambridge ◽  
Alan Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Community Treatment ◽  
Community Mental Health Service ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Seriously Mentally Ill ◽  
Ongoing Evaluation

Assertive and intensive community treatment for the seriously mentally ill is becoming a widely accepted approach internationally. This type of service is, however, still relatively new in Australia and New Zealand, and it has rarely been fully integrated into a comprehensive catchment area community and hospital mental health service. This paper has two aims. Firstly, it describes an innovative assertive community mental health service in suburban Sydney. This service was initially provided to 64 clients with a serious mental illness, who had previously experienced repeated hospitalisations and were unable to benefit from existing high quality services. Secondly, it presents the results of the ongoing evaluation of this service. Following the implementation of the service, the number of psychiatric bed days occupied by these clients decreased by 62%; the number of clients admitted decreased, client functioning improved and symptom severity decreased, all to a significant degree.

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