Community Mental Health Centre (community + mental_health_centre)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


What happens when people disclose sexual or physical abuse to staff at a community mental health centre?

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 2 2002
Kirsty Agar
ABSTRACT: The files of 200 users of a community mental health centre revealed that 46% of the files contained documentation of sexual or physical abuse as children or adults. Only 36% of summary formulations and 33% of treatment plans for the abused clients mentioned the abuse. Only 22% of the abused clients received abuse-focused therapy. Response rates were lower for clients who were male or had a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis, and if the clinician was male or a psychiatrist. None of the alleged crimes, past, recent or ongoing, was reported to legal authorities. Development of unit policies and training programmes to ensure appropriate response to abuse histories is recommended. [source]


PROD-screen , a screen for prodromal symptoms of psychosis

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF METHODS IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, Issue 2 2003
M. Heinimaa
Abstract The aim of this study was to describe the PROD-screen, an instrument for screening prodromal symptoms indicating risk for psychotic conversion in the near future. PROD-screen consists of 29 questions assessing performance and symptoms. Clinical construct validity was tested by comparing scores from the unselected general population (GP, n = 64) with those of general psychiatric patients from a community mental health centre (CMHC, n = 107). The concordant validity of PROD-screen for prodromal symptoms of psychosis was assessed in a large epidemiologically mixed sample of research subjects (n = 132) by comparing PROD-screen scores with the prodromal diagnosis made by Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms as a gold standard. Using the cut-off point of 2/12 specific symptoms, PROD-screen gave correct classification of prodromal status in 77% of cases, distinguishing prodromal from non-prodromal subjects with reasonable sensitivity (80%) and specificity (75%) in the epidemiologically mixed sample. According to subsample analysis PROD-screen functions well with first-degree relatives of schizophrenic patients and probably also with general population samples, but not with psychiatric outpatients. In conclusion, PROD-screen is a useful tool for screening prodromal symptoms of psychosis and selecting subjects for more extensive research interviews. Copyright © 2003 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source]


Evaluation of a community mental health carepath for early psychosis

JOURNAL OF EVALUATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 1 2006
Laura A. Hanson PhD RPsych
Abstract Purpose, To implement a carepath for early psychosis across all community mental health centres through the Early Psychosis Intervention Programme in the Fraser South Area of British Columbia, Canada. Methods, Prior to developing the carepath, chart reviews and interviews were performed to assess for adherence to published guidelines for early psychosis intervention. This assessment revealed the inadequacies of narrative recording and that core psychosocial interventions were inconsistently provided. The carepath developed included prompts for interventions and standardized assessments and ultimately replaced the charting system used in the mental health centres for early psychosis clients. Results and conclusions One-year evaluation revealed some improvements in clinical practice but also identified other areas that require further improvement. This project demonstrated that it is possible to successfully implement a carepath in community mental health and that doing so provides a standardized method for ongoing improvements in care. [source]