Rethinking Psychiatric Care: Assessing the Impact of a Community Intervention Program

• Lucian Constantin Paziuc ; Roxana Marginean ^[1] ; Cozmin Mihai ; Codruta Popescu ^[2] ; Maria Raluca Radu ; Roxana Chirita
  1. [1] Romanian Association of Social Psychiatry
  2. [2] Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy
• Localización: Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala, ISSN-e 1584-5397, Vol. 63, 2018, págs. 359-370
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Resumen

  • Rehabilitation connects the personal relevant goals of the person to services that reduce disability and promote recovery. Achieving this goal requires the integration of medical and psychosocial models of interventions through a multidisciplinary team. In Romania the development of community alternatives to hospitalization and recovery-oriented services has been one of the main aims since 2005, as indicated by the Action Plan and Strategies of Ministry of Health. Despite that, little improvements were made, and health care is still mostly hospital based. In these problematic contexts, and drawing on previous experience of ACT interventions, an experimental case management program was implemented at Campulung Moldovenesc Community Mental Health Center in order to bridge the existent gap between hospital and community and support people with mental health problems not just improve their access to treatment services but also to improve their overall functioning and health. We have evaluated the impact of a Mental Health Program implemented Campulung Moldovenesc in comparison with standard treatment, on reducing symptoms and improving the overall level of functioning in a group of 91 participants diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia. Specifically compared with standard treatment, case management was associated with greater improvement in symptoms, fewer of hospital days, increased number of contacts between clients and professional staff , decrease of dropout rates from mental health services, greater improvement in the global and social functioning level, decreasing burden of care and increasing client and his family satisfaction with services and last, but not least, with lower total cost of care.