Mental Health Service Provision in Low- and Middle-Income CountriesThis article discusses the provision of mental health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with a view to understanding the cultural dynamics-how the challenges they pose can be addressed and the opportunities harnessed in specific cultural contexts. The article highlights the need for prioritisation of mental health services by incorporating local population and cultural needs. This can be achieved only through political will and strengthened legislation, improved resource allocation and strategic organisation, integrated packages of care underpinned by professional communication and training, and involvement of patients, informal carers, and the wider community in a therapeutic capacity.
MINI International Neuropsychiatric Schedule: clinical utility and patient acceptanceOBJECTIVE: Clinical diagnosis has been shown to be unreliable compared to structured diagnostic schedules. However, clinicians rarely use structured diagnostic schedules due to concerns about the feasibility in clinical practice and about patient acceptance. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Schedule is a short diagnostic instrument validated against SCID and CIDI but its feasibility and patient acceptance has not been studied. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: One hundred and eleven patients admitted to a partial program were administered Mini International Neuropsychiatric Schedule and the interview was timed. A short questionnaire was administered to assess patients' views about the interview. For a subgroup of patients, diagnoses by both open interviews and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) were available. These were compared to look for agreement in primary diagnoses and co-morbid conditions. RESULTS: MINI took an average of 16.4 min to administer. Patients' views of MINI were positive. It was considered comprehensive enough to cover all patient symptoms and at the same time not unduly lengthy. Patients were not bothered by the interview format. There was disagreement between MINI primary diagnosis and open diagnosis in 42% cases. In 33% the disagreement was of substantial clinical significance. MINI diagnosed more co-morbid conditions (average 2.05 compared to 0.5 in open interview). CONCLUSIONS: MINI is a short diagnostic interview schedule that can be easily incorporated into routine clinical interviews. It has good acceptance by patients.
Use of the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation with psychiatric inpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective, or bipolar disordersPeriodic Restless Legs Syndrome Associated With Quetiapine UseNarsimha R. Pinninti, Rajnish Mago, James H. Townsend et al.|Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology|2005 Pinninti, Narsimha Reddy MD; Mago, Rajnish MD; Townsend, James DO; Doghramji, Karl MD Author Information
Cultural Adaptation of CBT for Serious Mental Illness