No description available.

No description available.

This thesis examines the effects of community mental health care on the quality of life of mental health service users in Britain - especially Scotland - and Germany. The analysis is based on current developments in community care policy and practice in the countries of comparison and the perspective of mental health service users in relation to this. The research strategies adopted include qualitative and quantitative methods, in particular a questionnaire survey among mental health service users in Scotland and in Germany. The examination of outcomes in community care with a specific focus on the concept 'quality of life' shows that quality of life is useful as an outcome measure for the comparative evaluation of community care from a user perspective. The study develops a model of quality of life which highlights significant components of community care identified as health, housing, employment, finances, support and social contacts. The examination of some of the foundations of health care and social care in Britain and in Germany, and the comparison of specific mental health care policies and legislation emphasise distinct national characteristics and fundamental differences concerning themes and issues in mental health care. Most significantly, the analysis shows a different national emphasis on major policy objectives and concepts such as quality of life or on the role of the service user. Furthermore, the examination of significant components of community care shows how different national policies can affect support options and general availability in community mental health care. The analysis of the views of mental health service users indicates that their quality of life is directly affected by specific national developments and different national approaches in mental health care. This concerns the availability (or absence) of different support options, but also the role of service users as participants in service provision (Scotland) or rather as recipients of service provision (Germany). The comparison of different national support options and the analysis of user views in relation to this highlights specifically positive and negative effects on the quality of life of mental health service users. Most appreciated by service users are support options that provide opportunity for choice, independence, personal autonomy and fulfilment. The study shows that community based service provision and especially professional support is extremely important to mental health service users and has a direct and vital impact on their quality of life.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985.

No description available.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1946.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1946.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1993.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1993.

The goal of mental health delivery system is to allow the individual with severe and persistent mental illness to live and function effectively in the community and to ensure that the consumers and their families have access to accurate information that promotes learning, self-monitoring and accountability (Stuart & Laraia, 2005:710). In community-based health care, the persons living with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) are in their natural environment in the context of the family and the community. The goals of care are focused around maximizing the person living with SPMI’s quality of life (Hunt, 2001:15-16). In South Africa, an integrated package of essential Primary Health Care (PHC) services has been made available to the entire population in order to provide the solid foundation of a single unified health care service (Department of Health, 2000:4). The assessment of health care needs of persons living with SPMI is a dynamic on-going process that is used to collect information, recognise changes, analyse needs and plan health care to provide baseline information to help evaluate the physiological and psychological normality and functional capacity of persons with SPMI (Hunt, 2001:100). There is insufficient information from the Department of Health to either satisfy the enquiry of whether the health care needs of persons living with SPMI are being met comprehensively or whether the practitioners rendering community-based health care are knowledgeable and comply with PHC norms and standards developed by this Department. The researcher is interested in understanding how the persons living with SPMI and their families experience the community-based health care provided by PHC nurses. The purpose of this research study is to develop strategies that would assist the PHC nurses in the selected rural areas of the Eastern Cape to facilitate community-based health care and to render a health care service relevant to the health care needs of the persons living with SPMI and their families. To achieve the objective of the study, the research design was based on a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, contextual research approach. Phase one includes describing and selecting the research population and the sampling process prior to conducting the field work which comprises individual interviews with persons living with SPMI and their families as well as PHC nurses. According to Dickoff, James and Weidenbach (1968:422) and Chinn and Kramer (1995:78), this strategy involves identifying concepts from fieldwork and creating conceptual meaning to provide a foundation for developing strategies to facilitate community-based care for persons living with mental illness. Phase two of the research design will focus on development of conceptual framework in order to allow better understanding of the phenomenon of interest, as the major concepts will be simplified by connecting all related concepts together by means of statements. This was done by making use of the themes identified during data analysis and the literature sources used throughout this research process. The evaluation criteria of Chinn and Kramer (2008:237-248) were used to evaluate the strategies. It is therefore concluded that the researcher succeeded in achieving the purpose of this study because strategies which were understandable, clear, applicable and relevant to the nursing practice have been developed for use by Department of Health and Primary Health Care to facilitate the multifaceted role of the PHC nurses.