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The Nordic Study on schizophrenic patients living in the community. Subjective needs and perceived help

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

T. Middelboe ,
T. Mackeprang ,
L. Hansson ,
G. Werdelin ,
H. Karlsson ,
O. Bjarnason ,
A. Bengtsson-Tops ,
J. Dybbro ,
L.L. Nilsson  and
M. Sandlund
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T. Middelboe*
Affiliation:
Community Mental Health Center, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, and Department of Psychiatry, Gentofte University Hospital, Denmark;
T. Mackeprang
Affiliation:
Community Mental Health Center, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, and Department of Psychiatry, Gentofte University Hospital, Denmark;
L. Hansson
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden;
G. Werdelin
Affiliation:
Roskilde County Hospital, Fjorden, Roskilde, Denmark;
H. Karlsson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Turku University, Turku, Finland;
O. Bjarnason
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Landspitallin, Reykjavik, Iceland;
A. Bengtsson-Tops
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Sector West, Malmö, Sweden;
J. Dybbro
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatric Demography, Institute for Basic Psychiatric Research, University of Aarhus, Denmark;
L.L. Nilsson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Sector North-East, Malmö, Sweden;
M. Sandlund
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Science, Division of Psychiatry, Umeå University, Sweden;
K.W. Sörgaard
Affiliation:
Nordland Psychiatric Hospital, Bodø, Norway
*
*Correspondence and reprints: Department of Psychiatry, Gentofte University Hospital, DK-2400 Hellerup, Denmark E-mail address: t.middelboe@dadlnet.dk (T. Middelboe).
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Summary

In a community sample of 418 persons diagnosed with schizophrenia, subjective needs and perceived help was measured by the Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN). The mean number of reported needs was 6.2 and the mean number of unmet needs 2.6. The prevalence of needs varied substantially between the need areas from 3.6% (‘telephone’) to 84.0% (‘psychotic symptoms’). The rate of satisfaction estimated as the percentage of persons satisfied with the help provided within an area varied between 20.0% (‘telephone’) and 80.6% (‘food’).

The need areas concerning social and interpersonal functioning demonstrated the highest proportion of unmet to total needs.

In a majority of need areas the patients received more help from services than from relatives, but in the areas of social relations the informal network provided substantial help. In general the patients reported a need for help from services clearly exceeding the actual amount of help received.

In a linear regression model symptom load (BPRS) and impaired functioning (GAF) were significant predictors of the need status, explaining 30% of the variance in total needs and 20% of the variance in unmet needs.

It is concluded that the mental health system fails to detect and alleviate needs in several areas of major importance to schizophrenic patients. Enhanced collaboration between the care system and the informal network to systematically map the need profile of the patients seems necessary to minimise the gap between perceived needs and received help.

Keywords

community carerehabilitationrelativesschizophreniasupporttreatment needs
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 16 , Issue 4 , June 2001 , pp. 207 - 214
Copyright
Copyright © Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS 2001

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