Psychiatric services for women

Choice, responsibility, recovery and social inclusion are concepts guiding the ‘modernisation’ and redesign of psychiatric services. Each has its advocates and detractors, and at the deep end of mental health/psychiatric practice they all interact. In the context of severe mental health problems choice and social inclusion are often deeply compromised; they are additionally difficult to access when someone is detained and significant aspects of personal responsibility have been temporarily taken over by others. One view is that you cannot recover while others are in control. We disagree and believe that it is possible to work in a recovery-oriented way in all service settings. This series of articles represents a collaborative dialogue between providers and consumers of compulsory psychiatric services and expert commentators. We worked together, reflecting on the literature and our own professional and personal experience to better understand how choice can be worked with as a support for personal recovery even in circumstances of psychiatric detention. We were particularly interested to consider whether and how detention and compulsion could be routes to personal recovery. We offer both the process of our co-working and our specific findings as part of a continuing dialogue on these difficult issues.

Download Full-text

COVID-19 and the Mental Health of People From Refugee Backgrounds

International Journal of Health Services ◽

10.1177/0020731420942475 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 415-417 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Susan Rees ◽

Jane Fisher

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Care Delivery ◽

General Health ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Care Delivery ◽

Health Problems ◽

Vulnerable Population ◽

High Income ◽

Health Practitioners

Approximately 1 in 10 of the current 26 million people who are refugees reside in high-income countries. They have commonly experienced trauma related to violence, insecurity, persecution and shortage of food and medicine. Our research suggests that COVID-19 and its health and social sequalae may be triggering past traumatic reactions, exacerbating mental health problems and undermining functioning. The purpose of this article is to promptly communicate these anecdotal findings to general health practitioners to ensure informed and sensitive health care delivery to this vulnerable population.

Download Full-text

Mental Health in Modern Society

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.3.1.113 ◽

1949 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 113-113

Author(s):

HENRY H. WORK

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Problems ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Modern Society ◽

Armed Forces ◽

Health Problems ◽

Psychiatric Services ◽

Psychiatric Disabilities ◽

Emergency Measure ◽

Health Theory

As another evidence of the emergence of psychiatry from the hospital and the new concept of its role in society, this book offers an excellent integration of mental health theory and practices in their relation to a multitude of social problems. Prompted, apparently, by the advances of psychiatry during the war period and including a thorough study of the mental health problems of the veteran, this book is a compendium of modern resources in the field with some thoughts on the varying usefulness of their application. The first part deals with the lessons of the war itself and contains, in addition to a chapter on the psychiatric services in the armed forces and the emergency measure for dealing with the veteran, an excellent chapter on "The Psychiatric Disabilities of War: Dynamics and Motivation."

Download Full-text

Psychiatric Services in China

Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal ◽

10.1177/070674377802300603 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 23 (6) ◽

pp. 361-371 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

F. Allodi ◽

J. Dukszta

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Political Ideology ◽

Mental Hospital ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

Psychiatric Services ◽

The West ◽

General Hospitals ◽

Mental Hospitals

Reportedly, the People's Republic of China has made great progress in health care services, particularly at preventive, primary and community levels. Information on their psychiatric services is still scarce. A group of 12 health professionals visited the country for three weeks in July 1977. This paper provides a description and an analysis of the network of mental health services using a sample of one mental hospital, six general hospitals and a number of health units in cities, factories and communes. The basic principles of policy and administration are those of a collective socialism with strong central guidelines and considerable local administrative initiative. Admissions to the mental hospital in Shanghai reveal that 83% are young acute schizophrenic cases and very few are neurotic or non-psychotic. This distribution stands in great contrast with admissions to mental hospitals in the West, as is the case in Canada, where schizophrenics represent only 12% of all first admissions to mental hospitals and non-psychotic or minor conditions amount to two-thirds. An impressionistic survey of Chinese traditional medicine rooms in general hospitals revealed that a good proportion of their cases (60-70%) are diagnosed as suffering from minor organic or vague organic conditions without evidence of organic pathology and which in the West would be considered as neurotic or psychosomatic conditions. Outside the institutions, in the communes of the rural and urban areas behavioural, interpersonal and family problems are not defined specifically as mental health problems, but handled within the moral and political ideology prevalent in the country. None of the general hospitals visited had a psychiatric unit, but every patient in every hospital or health unit in the cities and countryside received a combination of traditional Chinese medicine (herbal preparations, acupuncture and moxibustion) besides the Western or modern type of treatment. Officially mental illness is not considered a major problem and it is given very low priority in medical school curricula or in the planning of health services. It is concluded that psychiatric services in China are concerned primarily with cases of psychosis and severe neurosis, that neuroses are viewed as general health problems, and personality and behaviour disorders are considered social or community matters.

Download Full-text

Pattern of Medicine Prescribing in PHC Facilities before and after earthquake in Nepal

Medical Journal of Shree Birendra Hospital ◽

10.3126/mjsbh.v20i1.28552 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 41-45

Author(s):

Gajendra Bahadur Bhuju ◽

Kumud Kumar Kafle ◽

Radha Raman Prasad ◽

Vabha Rajbhandari ◽

Gorkha Bahadur DC ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Treatment Guidelines ◽

Health Workers ◽

Care Delivery ◽

Health Problems ◽

Prescribing Patterns ◽

Psychiatric Medication ◽

Prescribing Practices ◽

Before And After

Introduction: On April and May 2015, Nepal experienced two earthquakes. Many studies have focused on acute care delivery, disease outbreaks, mental health issues, and disaster relief post-earthquakes. Few others have looked at psychiatric medication prescription and health aid distribution pattern, only one study has addressed the effects of an earthquake on medication prescribing patterns and compared them to the post earthquake setting. This paper aims to examine common health problems and prescribing practices before and after the earthquake. Methods: This descriptive retrospective study was conducted within seven randomly selected health posts (HPs) located in the three most earthquake-affected districts of Bhaktapur, Kathmandu and Dhading. The patient records per month from each HP were selected from the out patient department (OPD) register by systematic random sampling for three months prior and three months after the earthquake. There were 584 and 654 encounters in the pre and post earthquake period respectively. Each patient record was analysed using WHO drug use indicators and national treatment guidelines. Results: A significant decrease in encounters receiving antibiotics and cases receiving albendazole alone in worm infestation was found in the post-earthquake period. A significant increase in prescribing antibiotics in cases of common cold was found. Conclusions: The common health problems were similar in both periods. However, prescribing practices were changed. As prescriptions related to mental health problems were lacking, there is a need for improving mental health education to the health workers.

Download Full-text

Persons with mental disorder in jails and prisons – legislation and practice in Georgia

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.913 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. S594-S594

Author(s):

N. Zavradashvili ◽

M. Eliashvili ◽

E. Zhorzholadze ◽

N. Makhashvili

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Disorder ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Care Delivery ◽

Group Discussion ◽

Health Problems ◽

Mentally Disordered ◽

Legal Traditions ◽

Depth Interview ◽

Competing Interest

IntroductionStatistics shows that in most countries prevalence of mental health problems are much higher among prisoners than the general population. Country approach to regulating mental health needs of persons with mental disorder who come into contact with justice system depends on variety of cultural or legal traditions, as well as on different concepts and structures of mental health care delivery.ObjectiveThe aim of the survey was to study and assess the established practice of implementation of the legal procedure relating to individuals who commit crime and have mental health problems in Georgia.MethodsQualitative analysis including desk review, in-depth interview and focus group discussion was conducted. Preceding from the research objectives the current legislation with regard of people with the mental disorder has been analyzed; the interviews on the shortcomings and problems of the implementation of the law in practice have been conducted with key informants.ResultsThe study acknowledges that recent changes in Georgian legislation imports much of the civil law standards and processes relating to admission, detention and compulsory treatment of criminal detainees with mental health problems. However, due to the ambiguous, ambivalent and incomplete nature of the aforementioned changes, the penal and administrative courts, as well as the clinicians are facing serious difficulties and confusions in their work.ConclusionsIt is discussed that there is a strong need for closer cooperation between mental health and justice systems to treat mentally disordered persons both in the system and after they are released into the community.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Download Full-text

Mental health in general practice: assessment of current state and future needs

Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s079096670000906x ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 83-86 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Mimi Copty ◽

David L Whitford

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Primary Care ◽

Health Care ◽

General Practice ◽

Health Services ◽

Postgraduate Training ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

Psychiatric Services ◽

Psychological Therapies

AbstractObjectives: To determine the extent of mental health services provided in the community in one Irish health board area. To examine the influence of postgraduate mental health training of GPs on provision of mental health services.Method: Questionnaire and focus group methods were employed to determine views on mental health service provision. Data analysis was with parametric and non-parametric tests of association including student's t and chi-squared tests. Thematic analysis of the focus groups was carried out.Results: Twenty-five per cent of patients attending general practice have mental health problems and over 95% of these problems are dealt with in primary care. Only 32% of GPs had received postgraduate training in psychological therapies. GPs with postgraduate training in psychological therapies were more likely to estimate a higher proportion of their patient population with mental health problems and less likely to refer to psychiatric services. A need for support from other health care professionals in primary care was also identified.Conclusion: The majority of patients with mental health problems are treated in primary care. Further training of GPs and increased resources would improve mental health care in primary care and lead to fewer referrals to psychiatric services.

Download Full-text