Mental Health in the Community: the case of Slovenia

2021

In a time when the deinstitutionalisation of mental health services has become a global and European platform and one of the main forms of care provision, a theme such as the transition of care from large institutions down to a more personal community level care might seem outlived, but the fact is that in some European countries the discussion has revolved for almost 35 years around the most basic question concerning the closure of large, asylum‐type mental health institutions. In this article, I provide a historical overview and analysis of deinstitutionalisation processes in the field of mental health in Slovenia from mid‐1980s onwards, interpreted in terms of achievements and gaps in community‐based care and in user participation in these processes. It demonstrates some of the innovative participatory practices and their potential to transform services. A thematic data analysis was used to analyse the data collected from various primary (a focus group) and secondary sources (aut...

Mental health in family medicine, 2013

Background Slovenian psychiatry is predominantly hospital based. A programme for the development of general community psychiatric services was proposed to improve access to and quality and comprehensiveness of psychiatric care according to the modern standards of delivery of psychiatric services. Aim The aim of the paper is to present the programme for developing community services that was proposed to the Slovenian government, and to describe the barriers to its implementation that were encountered, as well as the errors made by the programme authors, that contributed to the rejection of the programme last year. Conclusions There are historical, political, professional and service organisation characteristics that impede the development of community psychiatry in Slovenia. These are to be addressed through coordinated action involving primary care professionals, non-government organisations with service users and carers, the Health Insurance Agency and politicians involved in the p...

Croatian medical journal, 2024

Community-based mental health care is acknowledged as a better alternative to institutionalized care. It improves access to health care services, reduces stigma, better protects human rights, and improves patients' outcomes (1). The London Declaration highlights the importance of empowering people with mental disorders, advocating that all interventions should be client-oriented, and the focus of care should be on the person's recovery (2).

Psychiatria Danubina, 2009

This paper describes how a team who would work in the community with patients from the rehabilitation unit of Ljubljana psychiatric hospital was developed and what the results of treatment of a group of these patients were in terms of admission and relapse rate. The admission and relapse rate of these patients was markedly reduced by working assertively with them in the community.

2005

People with mental disabilities 1 are one of the most disadvantaged groups of people in Europe. Historically, society has tended to isolate and segregate them and, despite some improvements, discrimination against individuals with mental disabilities continues to be a serious and pervasive social problem. In Central and Eastern European countries people with mental disabilities are generally considered dependents, not full members of society. The care for this group is most often provided in isolated and inhumane closed institutions. This system of service provision is still seen by most political decision-makers as the most efficient. The continuing existence of illegal discrimination and prejudice denies people with mental disabilities the opportunity to integrate fully into the community and to enjoy the same rights and possibilities as all other individuals. Lithuania is not an exception in this field. A system of in-patient social care institutions still prevails in Lithuania. Great numbers of people with mental disabilities live in these large residential institutions (social care institutions, psychiatric hospitals) that do not comply with the principles of modern social care standards which aim to ensure that people can wherever possible receive care and support in the community. This paper aims to address the relevant issues for necessity to put an end to the social exclusion and violation of the human rights of people with mental disabilities and, in particular, highlight the need to end the practice of placing people with mental disabilities in closed residential institutions, i.e. to affect deinstitutionalization policy in Lithuanian.

Psychiatry Today, 2005

Apstrakt: Godine stresa u našoj zemlji i u celom regionu dovele su u poslednjih nekoliko godina do porasta broja mentalnih poremećaja i poremećaja ponašanja od 13,5%, tako da se oni sada nalaze na drugom mestu problema javnog zdravstva (posle cerebrovaskularnih bolesti). Ukupan morbiditet i mortalitet su u porastu. Intenzivan akutni i hronični stres, kao i akumulirana trauma, prouzrokovali su značajne psihološke posledice, naročito kod ranjivih osoba. Zbog dugotrajne teške situacije, sistem zdravstvene zaštite se suočava sa specifičnim izazovima. Reforma zaštite mentalnog zdravlja je započela, uz brojne pozitivne akcije, kao što je priprema Nacionalne politike za mentalno zdravlje i nacrta Zakona o zaštiti prava osoba sa mentalnim poremećajima. U toku je transformacija službi za mentalno zdravlje, sa naglaskom na zaštitu u zajednici sa kampanjama protiv stigmatizacije i kontinuiranom edukacijom. Dat je pregled psihijatrijskih službi, broja zaposlenih u službama, načina finansiranja, puteva traženja pomoći, učešća korisnika i druga specifična pitanja vezana za zaštitu mentalnog zdravlja.

Socijalna psihijatrija, 2019

Prethodna su istraživanja pokazala da hrvatska politika mentalnog zdravlja nije politički prioritet, da joj nedostaje interdisciplinarnosti, međusektorske suradnje i holističkog pristupa. Slijedeći pretpostavku da je jedan od glavnih razloga za takvo polazište niska razina korištenja znanja pri stvaranju politike mentalnog zdravlja, ova studija pokušala je ispitati ulogu ekspertize i prijenosa znanja u razvoju hrvatske politike mentalnog zdravlja. Istraživanje je provedeno metodom snowball u proljeće 2018., obuhvatilo je 124 sudionika, stručnjaka iz različitih ustanova koje se bave mentalnim zdravljem. Za potrebe ove studije razvijen je upitnik "Razvoj hrvatske politike mentalnog zdravlja". Prikupljeni kvalitativni i kvantitativni podatci pokazali su da stručnjaci iz sektora mentalnog zdravlja kreiranje politike u svome polju opisuju kao nekvalitetno i u ovisnosti o visokim vladinim tijelima kojima upravlja politička elita nezainteresirana za mentalno zdravlje. Podatci također pokazuju da stručnjaci iz područja mentalnog zdravlja o poboljšanju politike mentalnog zdravlja razmišljaju u skladu s međunarodnim smjernicama. Pa ipak, sebe rijetko smatraju aktivnim činiteljima u procesu kreiranja politike. To nas vodi zaključku da stručnjaci trebaju podršku za umrežavanje, udruživanje radi zagovaranja i bolje međusektorske odnose kako bi utjecali na političku volju. / Previous research shows that Croatian mental health policy is not a political priority, that it lacks interdisciplinarity, intersectoral collaboration and a holistic approach. Following the assumption that one of the main reasons for this position is the low level of knowledge in mental health policy-making, this study was set to examine the role of expertise and knowledge translation in Croatian mental health policy development. The study was conducted during spring 2018 and has included 124 participants, professionals from different institutions dealing with mental health, using the snowball method. The questionnaire "Development of Croatian Mental Health Policy" was developed for the purpose of this study. The gathered qualitative and quantitative data shows that professionals in the mental health sector describe policymaking in the field as being of poor quality and highly dependent on top governmental bodies that are run by the political elite uninterested in mental health. The data also proves that mental health professionals in Croatia think about the improvement of mental health policy in line with international guidelines. Still, they rarely consider themselves an active force in policy-making. That leads us to the conclusion that experts and professionals need support to form networks, advocacy coalitions and better inter-sectoral relationships in order to influence the political will.

2014

We define the concept of mental health on the basis of the realization that mental health is not just a health phenomenon anymore, but also a social and psychological one. By defining mental health separately from mental illnesses, it is placed into the concept of public health, which exceeds the medical definition of the determination of a “mental illness”. The anthropology of health defines the medical treatment as a social practice, which takes into consideration a person’s social context, the differences between genders, the connection of personal and social. It accents the characteristics of social systems, values and manifestations of social crises through basic concepts and discourses, like gender and culture. Besides the consideration of health and disease, it enables also the consideration of a person in a highly industrialized society and of a culture as a totality. The phenomenon of destructive ways of manifesting psychic crises requires the recognizing of mental health a...

European Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 2016

The aim of the article is to present basic data on the health policy in Poland for the years 2016-2020 in the context of current standards and developmental goals for mental health promotion in the European Union countries. The article is also aimed at adumbrating standards and directions in mental health protection. It also sets out to present guidelines for helping people with mental illnesses that are based on the results of our research. This work presents selected results of a study which was carried out within the "Diagnosing the aid and social support system for people with mental illnesses in the Mazovia Province" research project. The project was co-financed from the resources of the Human Capital Operational Programme (as part of European Union's European Social Fund).