Psychiatric rehabilitation: redefined for the 1990s

A mutual-aid group for psychiatric rehabilitation of mental ex-patients in Hong Kong

BACKGROUND

Mutual-aid group and self-directed group are recognized as important interventions for anti-oppression of disadvantaged groups in our society.

METHOD

In this paper, the writer describes a mutual-aid group implemented in a psychiatric half-way house in Hong Kong. Members in this group were free to set their own agenda for discussion and to invite guest speakers. In terms of various stages of this group, the writer discusses how different group activities facilitated the development of mutual-aid and self-directed natures of mental ex-patients.

RESULTS

The findings show that this group can have an impact on the wider community and aid in improving the self-image of mental ex-patients and the perception of them as contributing positively to that community, hence lessening negative stereotypes.

Quality of life for patients with a personality disorder comparison of patients in two settings: an English special hospital and a Dutch TBS clinic

INTRODUCTION: There are differing approaches to the management of people with a severe personality disorder in the UK and The Netherlands. Few comparative studies exist. This study describes the use of an adapted version of the Lancashire Quality of life profile as a patient based-outcome measure. METHOD: A cross-sectional sample of 37 patients was interviewed at each site. RESULT: Patients in the Dutch service reported a significantly higher quality of life which could not be explained by better objective circumstances. DISCUSSION: The data collected do not explain why the Dutch patients reported a higher quality of life. It is suggested that this finding was related to more extensive therapeutic activity and greater therapeutic optimism in the Dutch service. There is a need for critical scrutiny of the appropriateness of quality of life measures in offender patients before they are accepted for use as an outcome measure.

Measuring quality of life in secure care: comparison of mentally ill and personality disordered patients

Improving quality of life for patients is emerging as a legitimate goal for UK inpatient forensic mental health services. The Lancashire Quality of Life Profile (LQOLP), which has been used widely to measure well-being in community settings, was trialed on an inpatient population being cared for under conditions of high security. Two groups of male patients, drawn from within the same institution but with markedly different clinical conditions, i.e. schizophrenia (N = 47) and personality disorder (N = 48), were interviewed using the LQOLP. Although both groups had been cared for under largely similar environmental conditions over similar lengths of time (9.5 years), the subjective global well-being of the two groups differed systematically as did other objective and subjective well-being measures. However, analysis found that the variations in global well-being could not be attributed readily to factors covered by the interview, including either current mood or personality. Possible reasons for these findings and implications for the use of the LQOLP under conditions of high security are discussed.

Setting up psychiatric services: cross-cultural issues in planning and delivery

There is convincing evidence that in the UK, various ethnic minorities are over-represented in psychiatric hospitals, prisons and special hospitals. Various explanations have been put forward for this picture. The expanding emphasis on community care means that models for looking after ethnic communities should be innovative and work from a bottom-up approach. Psychiatric emphasis on clinical diagnoses means that services are developed according to the diagnoses rather than needs.