The purpose of this study was to explore alcohol use among psychiatric in-patients in a mental hospital in Ethiopia. A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study design was used. Data were collected through face to face structured interviews and a document analysis checklist. A researcher-modified interview-version of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire was used to measure alcohol use. The study population comprised of 70 psychiatric in-patients. Data analysis showed that being male, living in an urban area, being diagnosed with schizophrenia, and having parents who drink alcohol had a statistical significant association with the alcohol use of the respondents. Respondents reported that it was difficult to abstain or stop using alcohol. They also felt discriminated against when forbidden by relatives to drink. It was alarming to find that thioridazine, which has been discontinued in most countries for the treatment of psychosis, was still being prescribed in Ethiopia. The study highlighted the need for health education to strengthen patients’ perceptions about the negative consequences of alcohol use. Care should be taken when prescribing psychotropic drugs such as thioridazine to psychiatric in-patients because of possible cardiotoxic effects. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

<p>There is considerable confusion regarding the diagnosis of patients presenting with non-affective psychosis in the absence of a dementia or secondary to a general medical condition in the fifth decade and beyond. A number of different terms, diagnostic criteria and age-cut-offs have been applied to this presentation posing a challenge to clinicians and researchers alike. Despite diagnostic inconsistencies and conceptual uncertainty, a remarkably consistent clinical picture has emerged. However, many questions still remain with regards to its underlying etiopathophysiological mechanisms, treatment and prognosis, including whether it is distinct from schizophrenia and whether it might be a prelude to cognitive deterioration. Currently there is no official diagnostic designation for patients who develop a primary psychosis in late life, with patients being typically diagnosed as either schizophrenia or delusional disorder, although the validity of such a distinction has been questioned.</p> <p>The following prospective longitudinal study sets out to characterize the largest known group of patients (n=102) with first-episode, late-onset (>age 40) psychotic disorder on demographic, clinical, treatment and prognostic variables. Given that one of the most contentious issues in the characterization of these patients has been that of diagnostic classification, we examined whether the currently nosological distinction of schizophrenia (SCZ) from delusional disorder (DD) has validity and/or utility. Patients were classified as either SCZ (n=47) or DD (n=55) according to DSM-IV criteria, and were then compared on a number of validators proposed as part of the DSM-V development process. As predicted, there were no significant differences between the two groups. In conclusion, our analysis did not find the current diagnostic distinction of SCZ from DD in the late-onset population to be valid and/or useful. We recommend the use of the more general diagnostic term, “Late-Onset Psychotic Disorder”, to refer to all patients who develop a primary psychosis in their forties or beyond.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Against the perspectives of the mental health needs of the people of Africa, this study explored and compared the models of psychiatric-mental health nursing education in two sub-Saharan African countries - Botswana and Nigeria. The primary purpose of the study was to assess the design, the implementation, the factors that influence and the perceived usefulness of psychiatric-mental health nursing education programmes in developing African countries, using Nigeria and Botswana as examples. A self-reporting questionnaire, administered to psychiatric nurse educators from the two countries of concern, provided the primary source of data. A curriculum evaluation checklist based on Horan, Knight, McAtee and Westrick (1984) was used to assess the components of the existing psychiatric nursing education curricula from the two countries. Discussions were also held with practising psychiatric nurses and officials of the nursing regulatory bodies from the two countries. Data from both countries revealed that participants used various terms to describe the same model for psychiatric-mental health nursing education adopted in their countries. Botswana, however, adopted a more functional generalist basic diploma nursing education approach which encouraged a more advanced post-basic diploma specialisation and practice in community psychiatric-mental health nursing. Nigeria's model leaned towards a hospital centred basic specialisation with no defined role for the generalist nurse within the psychiatric-mental health nursing care system. Community theme occurred in both countries' curricula with varying degrees of emphasis, as all the programmes claimed the intent to make psychiatric-mental health nursing service available to individuals, families and the communities at all levels of care. Psychiatric-mental health nursing education programmes of the two countries had been influenced at different times by war, colonial history, changing standards of health care delivery, government health policies, economic status of the country, professional status of nursing and the changing standard of education. A model that streamlined psychiatric-mental health nursing education within the general system of education in both countries was proposed. It was stressed that one key concept that must underlie the development of psychiatric-mental health nursing education was the need to create a mental health nursing role that would be appropriate for people's health needs rather than the needs of the health care system. / Advanced Nursing Science / D.Litt. et Phil.

Against the perspectives of the mental health needs of the people of Africa, this study explored and compared the models of psychiatric-mental health nursing education in two sub-Saharan African countries - Botswana and Nigeria. The primary purpose of the study was to assess the design, the implementation, the factors that influence and the perceived usefulness of psychiatric-mental health nursing education programmes in developing African countries, using Nigeria and Botswana as examples. A self-reporting questionnaire, administered to psychiatric nurse educators from the two countries of concern, provided the primary source of data. A curriculum evaluation checklist based on Horan, Knight, McAtee and Westrick (1984) was used to assess the components of the existing psychiatric nursing education curricula from the two countries. Discussions were also held with practising psychiatric nurses and officials of the nursing regulatory bodies from the two countries. Data from both countries revealed that participants used various terms to describe the same model for psychiatric-mental health nursing education adopted in their countries. Botswana, however, adopted a more functional generalist basic diploma nursing education approach which encouraged a more advanced post-basic diploma specialisation and practice in community psychiatric-mental health nursing. Nigeria's model leaned towards a hospital centred basic specialisation with no defined role for the generalist nurse within the psychiatric-mental health nursing care system. Community theme occurred in both countries' curricula with varying degrees of emphasis, as all the programmes claimed the intent to make psychiatric-mental health nursing service available to individuals, families and the communities at all levels of care. Psychiatric-mental health nursing education programmes of the two countries had been influenced at different times by war, colonial history, changing standards of health care delivery, government health policies, economic status of the country, professional status of nursing and the changing standard of education. A model that streamlined psychiatric-mental health nursing education within the general system of education in both countries was proposed. It was stressed that one key concept that must underlie the development of psychiatric-mental health nursing education was the need to create a mental health nursing role that would be appropriate for people's health needs rather than the needs of the health care system. / Advanced Nursing Science / D.Litt. et Phil.

Objective: To determine whether continuity of care (COC) reduces emergency department (ED) visits and/or readmission in adolescents with psychiatric disorders. Methods: A retrospective cohort of adolescents discharged with psychiatric disorder between April 1, 2002 and March 1, 2004 was identified using hospital administrative databases. Good COC was defined as at least one aftercare contact in 30 days. Confounding by patient characteristics was adjusted for by propensity-score-matching of good and poor COC adolescents. Cox PH was used to analyze time to outcome. Results: 48.77% of adolescents had good COC. 38.39% of adolescents had ED visit or readmission in the year post-discharge. Good COC increased risk of readmission (HR = 1.38 (1.14 – 1.66)), but not of ED visits (HR = 1.14 (0.95 – 1.37)). Conclusions: COC increased risk of readmission by 38% but did not increase risk of ED visits. These findings are contextualized. Implications to adolescent mental health service delivery are discussed.

Objective: To determine whether continuity of care (COC) reduces emergency department (ED) visits and/or readmission in adolescents with psychiatric disorders. Methods: A retrospective cohort of adolescents discharged with psychiatric disorder between April 1, 2002 and March 1, 2004 was identified using hospital administrative databases. Good COC was defined as at least one aftercare contact in 30 days. Confounding by patient characteristics was adjusted for by propensity-score-matching of good and poor COC adolescents. Cox PH was used to analyze time to outcome. Results: 48.77% of adolescents had good COC. 38.39% of adolescents had ED visit or readmission in the year post-discharge. Good COC increased risk of readmission (HR = 1.38 (1.14 – 1.66)), but not of ED visits (HR = 1.14 (0.95 – 1.37)). Conclusions: COC increased risk of readmission by 38% but did not increase risk of ED visits. These findings are contextualized. Implications to adolescent mental health service delivery are discussed.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-02T13:54:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao completa Mauricio Giubilei.pdf: 155857 bytes, checksum: eec715b4a732d4c696eef25d77658ae6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-09-11 / Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nïvel Superior / Aims The authors tried to identify de-hospitalized mentally ill patients living in shelters or homes and then quantify and stratify them as to their destinations residence and behavior specially towards other residents in Elderly Homes The de-hospitalizations took place by the end of the 80s with changes to the Mental Health policy the creation of Paulo Delgado law and the consequent deactivation of psychiatric beds in Brazil mainly in Minas Gerais state Methods Two questionnaires were made one for the Elderly Homes and the other for their residents The survey only began after a Term of Consent was signed authorizing the participation in this study The first questionnaire consisted of questions regarding care homes themselves their managers main religion budget source number of employees and their specific duties Main types of covenants public or private endowments for specific and complementary assistance as well as the number of beds for elderly and mentally ill residents were also evaluated The Ministry of Health regulations regarding mentally ill patients were unknown to their managers As to the boards of directors they found it acceptable to have both mentally ill and elderly persons in the same environment However they were careful to explain the discomfort of this sociability Psychiatric support or specific hospitals were acknowledged The questionnaire consisted of residents data sociofamiliar factors psychiatric and psychological diagnostics medication and dosages Those residents coming from hospitals number of specialized psychiatric confinements and their behavior adjustments were also considered 520 residents in 11 homes located in 10 cities in the southwest region of Minas Gerais were evaluated Results Gender distribution was the same Average age was 22 to 100 years old (65,60 ± 14,39) Ages between 51 and 70 years old corresponded to 48,65% while in 82.49% of residents the ages were between 51 and 90 years Caucasian was 70.60% Regarding the laboring capacity 67.90% was between none and little Of all residents evaluated 72.90% had never had a psychiatric hospitalization and 10.40% had been hospitalized more than five times The results show that 20.00% of all residents suffer from dementia 19.80% were chronic psychotics and 13.30% schizophrenics 21.70% were mentally ills and 12.70% was the percentage of healthy residents The remaining residents presented other neuropsychiatric diagnostics 3,70% (19) were de-hospitalized from Psychiatric Hospital In general 15.30% had inadequate behaviors which interferes in their daily life and 64.40% make daily use of psychotropic medication against 35.60% who uses with non-psychotropic drugs or only and nothing at all Of the psychotropic medications used haloperidol is the main in 35.20% followed by diazepam 34.00% Biperideno 23.00% followed by Phenobarbital 21.50% and amitriptyline 14.90% Conclusion The study concluded that the number of psychiatric patients de-hospitalized and transferred to Elderly Homes was little in the evaluated area However a significant number of patients with chronic characteristics who alternated between Elderly Homes and Psychiatric Hospitals were identified Most of the Elderly Homes avoided residents with some sort of mental disorder especially schizophrenic ones Other chronic psychiatric patients with light symptoms and lack of monetary and family support were accepted in as a matter of philanthropy and humanity / Objetivo Através das mudanças na Política de Saúde Mental a partir da Lei Paulo Delgado e sua conseqüente diminuição de leitos psiquiátricos os autores buscaram por evidencia quantificar e estratificar doentes mentais de custódia desospitalizados seus destinos e habitações especialmente nas Casas de Acolhimento de Idosos em cidades do sudoeste mineiro Os comportamentos destes pacientes e dos outros condôminos suas capacidades psíquicas e funcionais número de internações psiquiátricas as medicações administradas foram avaliados e estratificados Método Após os diretores dessas casas autorizarem a realização deste estudo dois questionários foram aplicados um a elas e outro aos seus moradores O primeiro identificou uma a uma seus representantes dados econômicos operacionais quantidade de colaboradores e suas funções No segundo cada condômino foi identificado e obteve-se seu diagnóstico social econômico familiar psiquiátrico psicológico e seu tratamento após assinar um Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido anuindo o nosso exame Todos seus 520 moradores doentes mentais ou não foram avaliados clinicamente e seus diagnósticos estabelecidos segundo a CID-10 Onze dessas casas foram visitadas em dez cidades nessa região definida Resultados A distribuição por sexo foi a mesma e as idades entre 22 a 100 anos Resultou que a predominância foi entre 51 a 70 anos cor de pele branca em 70,60 % e capacidade laborativa inapta em 67,90 % Seis ou mais internações psiquiátricas aconteceram em 10,40% e 20,00% encontravam-se demenciados Psicóticos crônicos e esquizofrênicos respectivamente eram 19,80% e 13,30 % Deficientes mentais encontrados em 21,70% contra 12,70 % de idosos preservados Apenas 3,70% (19) eram egressos de hospitais de custódia No total 15,30 % tinham comportamentos que interferiam no cotidiano dos condôminos Dos que usavam medicamentos regularmente 64,40 % usavam remédios psicotrópicos associados ou não a outros clínicos Destes 35,60% tomavam medicações clínicas ou nenhuma delas Das drogas psiquiátricas prescritas a prevalente foi o haloperidol em 35,20 % seguido do diazepan em 34,00 % o biperideno em 23,00 % fenobarbital em 21,50 % e a amitriptilina em 14,90 % Inexistiram leitos específicos para idosos e doentes mentais Conclusões Este estudo concluiu que o número de egressos de hospitais psiquiátricos de custódia encontrado foi pequeno em relação ao número de doentes mentais moradores dessas casas A capacidade de seus diretores em fazer diagnóstico de perfil de doente mental assim como o faz o psiquiatra inibiu a inclusão de novos condôminos A grande maioria de sua população (87,10%) era portadora de doenças mentais neurológicas neuriátricas entre outras com sintomatologia psiquiátrica Seis ou mais internações psiquiátricas ocorreram em 10,40% inferindo-se que esta alternância entre estas casas e hospitais psiquiátricos foi uma institucionalização contínua em psiquiatria O impacto social apresentou significativo grau de injúria seja ela física ou psíquica demonstrando que essas casas eram inespecíficas e incompletas para que houvesse harmonia entre condôminos de perfis geriátricos e psiquiátricos

This study measured the effectiveness of rehabilitative day treatment (RDT) programs for persons with severe and persistant mental illness in San Bernardino County. The effectiveness of RDT services was determined by rates of recidivism.

Alla människor har rätt till en lika vård men studier visar att personer med substansbrukssyndrom befinner sig i en utsatt position i mötet med vården. Substansbruk definieras enligt världsorganisationen WHO som ett sjukdomstillstånd. 275 miljoner människor beskrivs ha ett substansbruk, varav 36 miljoner av dessa människor har ett substansbrukssyndrom. Syftet med denna studie var att sammanställa kunskap om hur personer med substansbrukssyndrom upplever bemötandet och stigmatisering i vården. Metoden som valdes var en systematisk litteraturöversikt av studier med kvalitativ metod med metasyntes som analysmetod. Databaserna PubMed och PsycInfo användes. Efter kvalitetsgranskning inkluderades 16 artiklar. Resultatet av metasyntesen resulterade i tre slutteman:  Att bli särbehandlad och dömd. Att bli ignorerad och misstrodd. Att bli behandlad som en människa och uppleva att man får den vård man är i behov av. Resultatet visade att personer med substansbrukssyndrom upplever både ett negativt och ett positivt bemötande av vården. I resultatet framkom det en upplevd stigmatisering och en känsla av att bli misstrodd av vården, medan andra delar av resultatet visade att patientgruppen erhöll ett tillitsfullt bemötande och blev sedd som en människa bakom sin diagnos. Slutsatserna tyder på vikten av en personcentrerad vård och att ett individuellt bemötande kan vara grunden för att skapa en god vårdrelation för att förbättra vården för patienter med substansbrukssyndrom. Denna studie kan bidra till en ökad förståelse och kunskap om hur personer med substansbrukssyndrom upplever att de blir bemötta av vården. Studien kan få en betydelse för vårdpersonal, men också för patienter och anhöriga, genom att vården kan uppnå ett förbättrat förhållningssätt till denna patientgrupp.

The aims of this study were to explore professionals’ and clients’ experiences of diagnosis and treatment of auditory verbal hallucinations with a view to identifying important clinical issues for counselling psychologists. Six professionals, three psychologists and three psychiatrists, who had worked with people who hear voices, alongside four clients who hear voices, volunteered and participated in a semi-structured interview. These interviews were transcribed and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as described by Smith, Flowers and Larkin (2009). A table of super-ordinate and sub-ordinate themes was created as a result of this analysis. A number of themes arose from both groups of participants’ experiences. The main themes that arose for the professionals was: professional ambivalence; varying theories on causes of voices; perspectives on diagnosis and formulation; perspectives on medication; thoughts on working therapeutically; and, thinking on recovery. The themes that arose from the clients’ experiences were feelings about diagnosis and experiences of treatment. This research concludes that there is professional ambivalence in working with people who hear voices that is caused by a lack of certainty about the causes of the phenomenon alongside a lack of training in working with clients who have symptoms of psychosis. This impacts clients in several ways. The clients in this study were not offered the option to have any involvement in their own care and none of them were offered therapy as a treatment option. The study also concludes that psychiatric diagnosis does not consider all pertinent information related to clients’ issues which can lead to inconsistency in the diagnosis of clients who hear voices.