|
|
| | General Information of Chinese Mental Health Resource | | 2005-2-22 0:48:22 Chinese Society of Psychiatry Zou Yizhuang M.D, Ph.D |  General Information
Up to the end of 2001, there are 482 city or county psychiatric institutes. The private hospitals started in China during 1980s and increased quickly during the last 15 years.They generally have less than 100 beds and lower at professional level comparing to public services, because most of them were on the very early stage of their development. Private hospitals commonly reemployeed retired staffs from public psychiatric hospitals.
By the end of 2001, there are totally about 13900 psychiatrists in China, only about 40% of them have university degree (5 to 6 years in medical school) and 3 to 5 years as psychiatry residency (the young psychiatrists in China commonly have University degree). The rest had about 3 years in medical school and 3 years psychiatry residency and most of them graduated before 1980s. About 90% of Chinese psychiatrists work in public institutes. The total personnel for mental health service are about 100,000 to 120,000, including doctors, nurses, plus few psychologists, social workers and therapists.
Generally speaking, there are 3 important resources available in the mental health service in China: psychiatry hospitals, community mental health centers and clinics and patients families. So far, the psychiatry hospitals are still the center of the service. The patient family is a very important resource for mental health because they are stable, dependable and cost much less to take care of their mentally disturbed relatives. But family may over-protects patients from the early diagnosis and treatment, because they afraid of social stigma on psychosis and misunderstanding mental illness.
Before 1980, the biological model dominated Chinese psychiatry and there were only doctors and nurses in psychiatry hospital. Even now, there are few psychologists and social workers available in psychiatry institute, because of limited training for clinical psychologist and social worker in universities and graduates do not want to work in psychiatry hospital because of stigma and old service model. For short of psychologists and social worker, psychiatrists have to do their job, and nurses assisted many of the works. It will take some time for psychologists and social workers to locate their position in the mental health service in China.
(Edited by Shuping,Tan) | | [CLOSE] |
|
|
Ministry of Health, (2003) No.013
ICP:No.040657