The Status Of Mental Health Service In Nanchang And Solutions To Its Problem

At present, mental health problem is not only a serious pulice health problem, it has also become a major social problem.Provided by the National Center for Mental Health, China-CDC, the data and statistics show that nervous and mental diseases rank first in total BOD (the burden of disease) in China, accounting for 20% of the total BOD in China. The author of this thesis has surveyed the mental illness treatment, hospital management, social services, government investment, according to the state of mental health services 2009 of Nanchang city. In this attempt, the author manages to discover what lacks in mental health services, and at the same time to provide the government with scientific evidence for the improvement of mental health services and the optimization of resources. The survey is based on questionnaires, material selections, and interviews. According to the survey, there are only two mental hospitals in Nanchang, with nearly 500 employees,820 beds in use and 80,300 patients each year, in which 9125 patient with mental illness. In these two hospitals, there are 3454 patients recover each year, with 58.8 days in hostipal on average and the bed utilization ratio up to 83.7%. Among all the comprehensive hospitals in Nanchang, including provincial hospitals, there are only three which owns psychiatric department, however, they are psychiatric clinics without any bed. The survey suggests that a large number of mental illness patients are not treated well, due to the insufficient government investment in mental health care. High risk and low payment of the mental health services result in the lack of professional doctors and low-quality treatment. And health care is so costly that the patients with mental illness cannot afford it. Professional knowledge and technology are needed to strengthen the mental health services.Meanwhile, mental health education is insufficient that some important mental health problems are not recognized by the public. In the end, the author proposes several suggestions on mental health services. Firstly, a leading group consisting of different apartments of the government should be established, so as to invest more in mental health services and improve the treatment of mental hospitals and meanwhile develop various forms of mental health services. Secondly, the importance of training professionals on mental health services should be emphasized. The education in mental health should be available to all the people so that their attitudes towards mental illness would change. In addition, a law for mental health should be formulated to protect the interest of mentally-ill patients and professionals in mental health services.