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Objective: People with psychosocial disability are an important, although often neglected, subgroup of those living with severe and persistent mental illness. Rehabilitation, provided through clinical and non-government organisations in Australia, may contribute to their personal recovery goals. We hypothesised that people with psychoses with the greatest disability and complex needs would receive services from both sectors, reflecting treatment and rehabilitation needs. Method: Participants in the 2010 Australian national survey of psychosis (n = 1825) were interviewed to assess demographic, functional, mental and physical health characteristics and service use in the previous year. Two subgroups were created and compared: those using services from community mental health with, and without, non-governmental organisation involvement. Group membership was predicted by hierarchical logistic regression using variables selected on a priori grounds. Usefulness of the final model was examined by calculating improvement over the rate of accuracy achievable by chance alone. Results: The model was statistically significant but fell just short of useful (criterion 71.6%, model achieved 70.6%). Four independent variables contributed uniquely to predicting whether participants received both services (never married, childhood trauma, group accommodation, poor global functioning) consistent with the hypothesis. However, severe dysfunction in socialising was less likely to predict membership of the combined services group when compared with no dysfunction (p = 0.001, odds ratio = 0.384, confidence interval = [0.218, 0.677]), as was current smoking compared with none (p = 0.001, odds ratio = 0.606, confidence interval = [0.445, 0.824]). Conclusion: Findings suggest services provided by non-governmental organisations are targeted to those with the greatest disability although targeting could be improved. A subgroup of people with psychosis and severe disability in community mental health services do not access non-governmental services. Their unmet needs for rehabilitation and recovery have important implications for future development of community mental health, including the non-governmental sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homelessness among people with a mental illness is a serious issue. The purpose of the present study was to identify the types of housing available for people with a mental illness in the region, to develop an audit tool to assess the housing of patients of the mental health service, and to pilot this audit tool. Key informants were interviewed to obtain information about the type of housing options available in the Loddon Campaspe Southern Mallee Region, Victoria, Australia. This information was used to develop a survey to audit the housing status of existing patients of the area mental health service. A pilot study using the survey was completed by case managers for 81 patients who were being case managed by the area mental health service There was a wide variety of housing options in the region but housing availability was not evenly distributed. Although most patients lived in owned or rented accommodation, a substantial proportion of patients had difficulties with accessing the required services, the affordability of their housing, uncertainty of tenure or were at risk of violence within their housing. A substantial proportion of patients treated by a rural area mental health service had lived in impoverished housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anxiety and mood disorders are prevalent in the Australian community and can be functionally disabling. Access to treatment for these disorders can be difficult, particularly in rural areas where there is limited availability of specialist mental health practitioners such as psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. One way to address this problem is to improve the skills of local mental health practitioners in recognizing and providing treatment for these disorders. This paper describes a program that aimed to enhance access to psychological treatment for depression and anxiety by improving the skills of rural mental health case managers through training and education and support by psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. Thirty-two case managers participated in the program which delivered 10 training modules using a cognitive behavioural therapy framework. Case managers consisted primarily of psychiatric nurses, with others having social work or psychology backgrounds. Participants were assessed pre- and post-training using quantitative and qualitative measures. The effect of the training was noted in several areas including attitudinal changes, improved knowledge of psychological therapies, and changes to stated practice. However, there was concern expressed by participants about their competence and confidence to translate skills learned into practice. While the results of such a program are promising, they highlight some of the complexities of delivering such programs in rural settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the contributions of mental health nursing to the mission of the World Health Organization (WHO). Commitment made by the WHO on mental health; Forecasts on the impact of mental disorders on population worldwide; Actions to be taken by psychiatric nurses for the improvement of the mental health situation; Implications of the shortage of nurses on the mental health support of developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]