FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1993
POR MOST PATIENTS, MRS GOODSTADT SAID, THE TRANSITION то APPROPRIATE CARE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY WAS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THEIR TREATMENT.
IT ALLOWS A MORE COST-EFFECTIVE USE OF RESOURCES TOO.
HOSPITALS MAY HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN HELPING PATIENTS TO RECOVER TO THE EXTENT THAT THEY WERE READY TO RETURN TO THE COMMUNITY.
BUT STATISTICS SHOWED THAT RE-ADMISSIONS HAVE ACCOUNTED FOR ABOUT 55 PER CENT OF TOTAL ADMISSIONS OVER A 20-YEAR PERIOD SINCE 1971. IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS, ANNUAL RE-ADMISSION IS 60 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL ANNUAL ADMISSION.
REASONS FOR THIS INCREASING TREND MIGHT BE THAT THE PATIENTS HAD FAILED TO MAINTAIN RECOVERY PROGRESS OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL SETTING AND THAT THE COMMUNITY HAD FAILED TO PROVIDE THE TOTAL PACKAGE OF SERVICES AND SUPPORT WHICH THE PATIENTS' CONTINUED RECOVERY REQUIRED.
MRS GOODSTADT SAID THE COMMUNITY HAD ASSIGNED A LOWER PRIORITY TO THE CARE OF THE MENTALLY ILL THAN IT HAD, FOR EXAMPLE, TO THE CARE OF THE DISABLED CHILDREN.
ΤΟ TACKLE THE PROBLEM, SHE SAID SOME FORM OF LONG-TERM SHELTERED ACCOMMODATION WHICH PROVIDED MEDICAL AND SOCIAL SUPERVISION AND SUPPORT, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE SUPPORT AND SELF-HELP GROUPS WHICH BROUGHT TOGETHER THE CARE, SUPPORT AND CONTRIBUTION OF RELATIVES, FRIENDS, NEIGHBOURS, FORMER PATIENTS AND PROFESSIONALS WERE NECESSARY.
THE
PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT IN HELPING THE PATIENTS THROUGH THE PARTICIPATION IN SUPPORT GROUPS COULD CONVINCE THE COMMUNITY THAT MOST FORMS OF MENTAL ILLNESS POSED NO THREAT TO SOCIETY.
H
"EVENTUALLY THE MENTALLY ILL PERSON WILL NOT BE STIGMATISED; HE WILL BE JUST ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY WITH A HEALTH PROBLEM, MRS GOODSTADT SAID.
SHE STRESSED THAT CARE IN THE COMMUNITY WAS THE MOST EFFECTIVE TO ACHIEVE COMMUNITY ACCEPTANCE IN THE LONG RUN AND IT WAS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT TO SOCIETY LIKE HONG KONG WHOSE POPULATION WAS
MEANS
AGING.
THIS IS BECAUSE RISING LIFE EXPECTANCY INEVITABLY BRINGS AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO WILL SUFFER FROM MENTAL ILLNESS AND MENTAL DISORDER.
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