Somatic health care in a psychiatric setting
KCE Reports 338 (2021)
People suffering from mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or severe depression die much earlier and find it harder to access healthcare than the general population. KCE has attempted to understand why. A qualitative study carried out with patients and residential psychiatric care teams has shown that the limitations encountered may be due to prejudices and to administrative considerations that distinguish between physical health and mental health. However, today, all the international guidelines agree that such a distinction is obsolete and that psychiatric hospitalisation must be seen as a time and place where the primary objective is the overall health of the patient, in a spirit of recovery and empowerment. KCE has, therefore, put forward some ideas in this area, while pointing out that the current reforms regarding the nomenclature and hospital funding are opportunities to change the situation.
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