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Original Research
The current status of community mental health services in three northern areas of China
  1. Xiaoyi Yang1,
  2. Fengchi Yang2,
  3. Wenqing Fu1,
  4. Lingling Guo1,
  5. Lihua Xu1 and
  6. Hui Zhang2
  1. 1.Institute of Clinical Psychology, Medical College of Soochow University, Jiangsu 215123, China
  2. 2.School of Health Administration and Education, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, China
  1. Corresponding Author: Fengchi Yang, School of Health Management and Education of Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, China, E-mail: yangfe316{at}163.com; Wenqing Fu, Clinical Psychology Institute of Medicine Department of Suzhou University in Suzhou City of Jiangsu Province 215123, China, E-mail: fuwenqing{at}suda.edu.cn

Abstract

Objective This study investigated and discussed the current status of community mental health service in three northern areas of China (Beijing, Harbin, and Karamay) in an effort to improve the community mental health services in China.

Methods In this study 176 residents from communities of the three northern areas of China were involved and divided into 18 groups. The study was conducted according to a self-prepared structured interview outline.

Results The analysis was conducted based on the following four perspectives: 1. community residents’ understanding of the mental health problems and how they treated psychiatric patients; 2. community residents’ access to and application of mental health information; 3. community residents’ attitude to accept mental health services and the factors influencing community residents to seek help from mental health services; and 4. community residents’ attitude and willingness to participate in the activities of community mental health services.

Conclusion Based on the investigation and analysis regarding the current status of the community mental health services in three northern areas of China, it is concluded that the residents do not have s clear and complete understanding of mental health. The characteristics of mental health services had a regional correlation. Currently, the mental health services do not work effectively, and the residents are somewhat passive in obtaining information about mental health. Community mental health services should be offered according to different individual needs of the residents and the actual situations of each region.

  • Community mental health services
  • Group interviews
  • Current status of services
  • Service resources
  • Service modes
  • Service demands

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

http://dx.doi.org/10.15212/FMCH.2014.0104

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