scholarly journals Resources and Workforce in Top-Tier Psychiatric Hospitals in China: A Nationwide Survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Xia ◽  
Feng Jiang ◽  
Jeffrey Rakofsky ◽  
Yulong Zhang ◽  
Yudong Shi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Lower Limit ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Resources ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Outpatient Services ◽  
The Past ◽  
Psychiatric Staff ◽  
Psychiatric Beds

Objectives: Mental healthcare has gained momentum and significant attention in China over the past three decades. However, many challenges still exist. This survey aimed to investigate mental health resources and the psychiatric workforce in representative top-tier psychiatric hospitals in China.Methods: A total of 41 top-tier psychiatric hospitals from 29 provinces participated, providing data about numbers and types of psychiatric beds, numbers of mental health professionals, outpatient services and hospitalization information covering the past 3 years, as well as teaching and training program affiliation.Results: Significant variations were found among participating hospitals and across different regions. Most of these hospitals were large, with a median number of psychiatric beds of 660 (range, 169-2,141). Child and geriatric beds accounted for 3.3 and 12.6% of all beds, respectively, and many hospitals had no specialized child or geriatric units. The overall ratios of psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, and psychologists per bed were 0.16, 0.34, and 0.03, respectively. More than 40% of the hospitals had no clinical social workers. Based on the government's staffing guidelines, less than one third (31.7%) of the hospitals reached the lower limit of the psychiatric staff per bed ratio, and 43.9% of them reached the lower limit of the nurse per bed ratio.Conclusion: Although some progress has been made, mental health resources and the psychiatric workforce in China are still relatively insufficient with uneven geographical distribution and an acute shortage of psychiatric beds for children and elderly patients. In the meantime, the staffing composition needs to be optimized and more psychologists and social workers are needed. While addressing these shortages of mental health resources and the workforce is important, diversifying the psychiatric workforce, promoting community mental health care, and decentralizing mental health services may be equally important.

Unemployment: A Psychiatric Problem As Well?

1981 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 202-204
Author(s):  
Leonard Fagin
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Health Resources ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Psychiatric Problem ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Media

The spate of suicides and riots in unemployment-stricken towns has recently brought to public attention a feature of joblessness which had not figured in the minds of those that thought that it would only have financial and probably minor social consequences. Since then, a flurry of interest has been spurred by the media; they regularly report on studies that show some association between unemployment and ill health, quite often, and not surprisingly, to make party political meal of a long-term problem that is bound to have implications for health provision in this country, at least over the next two decades. As psychiatrists we all know the central role played by regular, satisfying employment in the mental health of our patients, and I am sure many of us are affected by our total inability to secure adequate rehabilitation alternatives on which we are sure our patients' future, and that of their families, depend to a great extent. Some of us may also have been aware of the increased demand on mental health resources over the past few years and of the worrying tendency for admissions into psychiatric hospitals to be prolonged because of the time it takes for an ex-patient to re-enter the labour force.

scholarly journals Association between Work Environments and Stigma towards People with Schizophrenia among Mental Health Professionals in Japan

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Yuichi Kato ◽  
Rie Chiba ◽  
Sosei Yamaguchi ◽  
Kyohei Goto ◽  
Maki Umeda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Work Environments ◽  
Subgroup Analyses ◽  
Secondary Analyses

This study aimed to examine the association between control over practice in work environments and stigma toward people with schizophrenia among mental health professionals. We conducted secondary analyses on data from a self-administered questionnaire survey. The sample in the initial study included mental health professionals from two psychiatric hospitals, 56 psychiatric clinics, and community service agencies in Japan. The Ethics Committee of the University of Tokyo, approved this study. Data from 279 participants were used for secondary analyses (valid response rate = 58.7%). The hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to determine the association between control over practice and stigma. We performed subgroup analyses among nurses (n = 121) and psychiatric social workers (n = 92). Control over practice was negatively associated with stigma among mental health professionals (β = −0.162, p < 0.01). The subgroup analyses among nurses indicated that control over practice, educational history and recovery knowledge were associated with stigma. However, these variables were not associated with stigma among psychiatric social workers. Control over practice might help to reduce stigma among mental health professionals. Factors related to stigma might differ by occupation. Therefore, further comprehensive studies among various professionals would further our understanding of these factors.

scholarly journals Meeting the psychiatric needs of children in foster care

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 609-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeannette Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Child Mental Health ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Health Resources ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Mental Health Needs ◽  
Children In Foster Care ◽  
Consultation Services

This study sought social workers' views on the mental health needs of a sample of foster children. Out of the sample 80% of the children were considered to require treatment from a child mental health professional but only 27% had received any input. The reasons given for not referring for treatment were placement instability, inadequate child mental health resources and insufficient local authority funding. The provision of consultation services to allocated social workers and the availability of child mental health professionals at local authority reviews should be considered.

scholarly journals Development of hospital treatment of persons with mental disorders

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (suppl. 1) ◽  
pp. 6-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milutin Nenadovic
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Hospital Treatment ◽  
Social Community ◽  
Mental Patients ◽  
The Past ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
The 19Th Century

Discordances of harmonic mental functioning are as old as the human kind. Psychopathological behaviour of an individual in the past was not treated as an illness. That means that psychopathology was not considered an illness. In all past civilizations discordance of mental harmony of an individual is interpreted from the physiological aspect. Psychopathologic expression was not considered an illness, so social attitudes about psychiatric patients in the past were non-medical and generally speaking inhuman. Hospitals did not follow development of medicine for admission of psychiatric patients in past civilizations, not even in the antique era. According to historic sources, the first hospital that was meant for mental patients only was established in the 15th century, 1409 in Valencia (Spain). Therefore mental patients were isolated in a special institution-hospital, and social community rejected them. Only in the new era psychopathological behavior begins to be treated as an illness. Therefore during the 19th century psychiatry is developed as a special branch of medicine, and mental disorder is more and more seen according to the principals of interpretation of physical illnesses. By the middle of the 19th century psychiatric hospitals are humanized, and patients are being less physically restricted. Deinstitutialisation in protection of mental health is the heritage of reforms from the beginning of the 19th century which regarded the prevention of mental health protection. It was necessary to develop institutions of the prevention of protection in the community which would primarily have social support and characteristics.

scholarly journals Psychometric Properties of the Korean Version of the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun Sol Lee ◽  
Vin Ryu ◽  
Ji Hyun Lee ◽  
Hyeon Hong ◽  
Hyeree Han ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Concurrent Validity ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Stress Scale

Background: Job stress of mental health professionals can have a negative impact on them, particularly their psychological health and mortality, and may also affect organizations' and institutions' ability to provide quality mental health services to patients.Aim: This study aimed to: (1) investigate the validity and reliability of the Korean Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale (K-MHPSS), (2) develop K-MHPSS cut-off points to measure clinical depression and anxiety, and (3) examine whether specific stressors vary by area of expertise.Methodology: Data were collected via an online survey over 3 months, from August to October 2020. An online survey using a survey website was administered to volunteers who accessed the link and consented to participate. Data from 558 participants (200 clinical psychologists, 157 nurses, and 201 social workers) were included in the final analysis. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were conducted to examine the factor structure of the K-MHPSS; concurrent validity of the scale was determined by analyzing correlation; internal consistency was determined by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In addition, ROC curve analysis and Youden's index were used to estimate optimal cut-off points for K-MHPSS; one-way ANOVA was performed to investigate the difference among the three groups.Results: The seven-factor model of the original scale did not be replicated by Korean mental health professionals. The K-MHPSS had the best fit with the six-factor model, which consists of 34 items. Concurrent validity was confirmed, and overall reliability was found to be good. The K-MHPSS cut-off points for depression and anxiety appeared to slightly different by professional groups. Furthermore, nurses and social workers showed significantly higher total scores compared to clinical psychologists, and there are significant differences in subscale scores among professionals.Conclusion: The Korean version of the MHPSS has appropriate psychometric properties and can be used to assess the occupational stress of mental health professionals. It can also serve as a reference point for screening clinical level of depression and anxiety in mental health professionals.

scholarly journals Is psychiatric reform a strategy for reducing the mental health budget? The case of Brazil

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sérgio Baxter Andreoli ◽  
Naomar Almeida-Filho ◽  
Denise Martin ◽  
Mário Dinis M L Mateus ◽  
Jair de Jesus Mari
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Psychiatric Reform ◽  
Psychiatric Admissions ◽  
Reducing Costs ◽  
New Community ◽  
Psychiatric Beds

OBJECTIVE: To investigate trends in the provision of mental health services and financing in Brazil. METHOD: Data from DATASUS (the Brazilian Unified Health Computerized System) with free access in the web were collected regarding the number of beds, the development of new community centers, the number of mental health professionals, and costs involved from 1995 to 2005. RESULTS: In ten years, the number of psychiatric beds decreased 41% (5.4 to 3.2 per 10,000 inhabitants) while community services have increased nine-fold (0.004 to 0.037 per 10,000 inhabitants). Psychologists and social workers have accounted for three and two-fold, respectively, as much hirings as psychiatrists. Psychiatric admissions accounted for 95.5% of the budget in 1995 and 49% in 2005, and the expenses with community services and medication have increased 15% each. As a whole, the expenses in mental health decreased by 26.7% (2.66 to 1.95 US$ per capita). CONCLUSION: There has been a clear switch from hospital to community psychiatric care in Brazil, where the system can now provide a diversity of treatments and free access to psychotropics. However, the coverage of community services is precarious, and the reform was not accompanied by an increased public investment in mental health. The psychiatric reform is not a strategy for reducing costs; it necessarily implies increasing investments if countries decide to have a better care of those more disadvantaged.

International Themes in Psychotherapy Integration

2019 ◽  
pp. 448-473
Author(s):  
Beatriz Gómez ◽  
Shigeru Iwakabe ◽  
Alexandre Vaz
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Psychotherapy Integration ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
The Past ◽  
Current Climate ◽  
The World ◽  
Training And Research ◽  
Sociopolitical Issues

Interest in psychotherapy integration has steadily expanded over the past decades, reaching most continents of the world and more mental health professionals than ever. Nevertheless, a country’s cultural and historical background significantly influences the nurturance or hindrance of integrative endeavors. This chapter seeks to explicate the current climate of psychotherapy integration in different continents and specific countries. With the aid of local integrative scholars, brief descriptions are presented on integrative practice, training, and research, as well as on cultural and sociopolitical issues that have shaped this movement’s impact around the world.

Urban Mental Health (Oxford Cultural Psychiatry series)

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Internal Migration ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Urban Mental Health ◽  
The Past

The internal migration in countries around the globe as a result of rapid urbanization and related to industrialization as a consequence of globalization has been truly remarkable. The past 50 years have seen a massive rise in the numbers of people moving and creating megapolis in many parts of the world. It is inevitable that with such massive internal migration come stressors such as pollution, lack of space, overcrowding, unemployment, and increased likelihood of infectious diseases, all of which contribute to an increase in psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, such migration can also lead to the splintering of social support and the fraying of social networks, which can further contribute to poor help-seeking and poor therapeutic adherence and poor prognosis. This book highlights challenges in managing mental health and psychiatric disorders in urban areas. The contributors include researchers, clinicians, urban planners, urban designers, and others who are interested in the field. The book will appeal to all mental health professionals, whether they are working in urban areas or rural areas.

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