The majority of mental health care in Ireland takes place in the community. Following the publication of ?Planning for the Future? in the 1980s, there has been a consistent push by government to move psychiatric services out from the old District Mental Hospitals into the community. This effectively means that each community service should have a full range of interventions and services available in the local community. The full multidisciplinary team and a majority of clinical interventions found in the hospital should also be available in the community setting.
Out ? Patient Clinics
The out?patient clinic is the main point of contact with the psychiatrist. It is where you and if appropriate a member/s of your family can meet the doctor to discuss assessment, follow up or continuing management of your mental illness. These clinics occur on set days in specific locations. Details are available from your local service.
Day Hospitals
The day hospital acts as a focus of psychiatric care in a sector and is primarily for active treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders. A day hospital provides comprehensive treatment equivalent to that available in a hospital in-patient setting for acutely ill patients. Out-patient clinics can also be held and a range of investigative procedures performed.
Day Centres
A day centre is a community setting where people attend voluntarily for continuing social support. In some cases it may also offer treatment. Rehabilitation and activation services may be provided and could include occupational therapy, social skills training and light industrial therapy.
Community Residences
These are basically houses and hostels owned and staffed by the health board. They range from:
High Support - Qualified staff on duty 24 hours a day.
Medium Support - Qualified staff during day and unqualified at night.
Low Support - Qualified staff visit on a daily basis.
These residences are used as part of the recovery process. If the multidisciplinary team, in consultation with patient and family, feel a person is not ready to go home but is too well to be in hospital they may refer them to a community residence. In general the only way to secure a place in one of these hostels is through the multidisciplinary team. Currently the demand for places in such homes and hostels far outweighs the supply.
Home Based Treatment
This is a concept where a professional usually a community psychiatric nurse will visit the person in his or her own home on a regular basis. This method is proven to reduce hospital admissions and improve quality of care for people with enduring mental illness and their families.
Link Title
Health Service Executive (HSE)
Description
The Health Service Executive (HSE) took over full operational responsibility for running the country's health and personal social services on January 1, 2005.
