Kontakt 2007, 9(1):54-64 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2007.007
An alternative approach to taking acute care of psychiatric patients: residential facilitiesNursing
- Psychiatrická léčebna Bohnice
- Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Filozofická fakulta
The target of the present contribution is to inform the reader on a model of taking the alternative acute care of patients with mental diseases. This is a project of residential facilities, which form a transition between the hospital care and case work. These facilities occur in North America and Western Europe, thus successfully reducing numbers of hospitalised patients. In the work presented here, the importance of the institutional treatment is first reminded. The theoretical concept of the alternative acute psychiatric care is described with presenting three cases of residential facilities, which are effectively functioning in practice. Advantages of the alternative facilities are conclusively summarized, but their critical assessment is also considered. The basic source was the English original work Warner, R.: Alternatives to the Hospital for Acute Psychiatric Treatment: first edition, American Psychiatric Press, Washington D. C. 1995.
The environment of the residential facility is small and it exerts a family style and normalizing effects. It is situated in the patient natural environment, the house is kept open and it enables the patient to remain in contact with his/her social life. Restrictive methods are not implemented and informal relationships based on equal rights are preferred over a hierarchical structure. The patients experience a certain degree of the self-control and they train the responsibility for their behaviour and for maintaining the environment which they are living in. In the residential facility projects, emphasize is put on the individual approach to patients, fulfilling their psychosocial needs and on their re-integration into the community. It is governed by a multidisciplinary team, the role of health-social workers being irreplaceable there. The care provided in the residential facility makes it possible to flexibly react to the need of patients and to strengthen their internal sources.
Keywords: Psychiatry; patient; psychosocial needs; acute care
Received: January 21, 2007; Accepted: April 6, 2007; Published: June 15, 2007 Show citation
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