The contribution of a mobile mental health unit to the promotion of primary mental health in rural areas in Greece: A 2-year follow-up

Abstract

During the 2 years of the mobile mental-health unit's operation in Northwestern Greece, the referrals increased rapidly with 29.4% of patients never having received mental-health care before, while hospitalizations and relapses reduced significantly, indicating that community-oriented programs can contribute greatly to successfully addressing the needs of patients in remote rural areas.

Investigation of the Communication Network Among Mental Health Services: The Case of a Community Mental Health Care Center in Attica

“…Peritogiannis et al indicated that community-oriented programs successfully addressed the mental health needs of patients in remote rural areas. Moreover, one third of these asked for services to the MHCC after consulting a mental health professional privately [1]. A possible explanation is that in a time of economic hardship the selection of publicly funded services is both reasonable and desirable [14].…”

“…Decentralization of mental health services and a model of community-based treatment is the result of the implementation of the psychiatric reform initiated in Greece over the last decades [1]. The development of an organized network of psychiatric and psychosocial care in Primary Health Care (PHC) has been desirable in health care policy agendas in many countries, as well as in Greece [2,3].…”

Long-term Benzodiazepine Treatment in Patients with Psychotic Disorders Attending a Mental Health Service in Rural Greece

“…Its contribution to the care of patients living in those areas has been reported elsewhere. [121314] The care of patients with psychotic disorders is a priority for the MMHU I-T. The MMHU I-T uses the resources of the primary care system but may also visit patients at their homes when needed.…”

Accessibility and utilization patterns of a mobile medical clinic among vulnerable populations

“…MMCs have been especially successful in addressing the geographical extremes of both rural (Peritogiannis et al 2011, Sarnquist et al 2011) and urban poor (Daiski 2005), where accessibility to fixed healthcare is limited due to the dearth of facilities and meager financial resources. They are also advantageous in meeting the needs of medically vulnerable populations that often experience erratic or limited healthcare in traditional settings due to underlying mental illness (Chiu and Primeau 1991), unstable housing (Collinson and Ward 2010, Amarasingham et al 2001, Whelan C 2010), poverty, migration status (Collinson and Ward 2010, Guruge et al 2010, Simsek et al 2012), substance use (Thompson et al 1998), or other stigmatized behaviors such as sex work (Shannon et al 2008).…”