Recovery-oriented treatment new focus for psychiatric patients
Quality recovery-oriented treatment and rehabilitation for psychiatric patients is the new focus of the Public Health Ministry's Mental Health Department, deputy director general Dr Chinoros Leesawat said on Monday.
He was speaking at the first "International Recovery Alliance Conference 2017: Bringing Mental Illness into the Light", held on Monday and Tuesday in Bangkok.
More than 500 medical professionals, caretakers of psychiatric patients from Thailand and other countries such as the United States, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Lithuania, attended the conference.
Chinoros said the ministry had shifted its treatment and rehabilitation from being based on clinical symptoms to be more recovery-oriented and well-rounded in terms of physical, mental, social and spiritual aspects.
Patients were also urged to participate in decision-making and implementation as well as to be more self-reliant, he said. In this way, recovered mental patients would discover their own potential and live a happy and meaningful life.
It was hoped that the new approach would boost the public acceptance of recovered mental patients in their reintegration back into society. It would also promote a new perception that all people, including psychiatric patients, are equal and they should get life and learning opportunities like other normal people, he said.
The conference will present recovery-oriented services and outcomes in various contexts, including in psychiatric wards, in the community, or among specific groups with mental problems such as inmates or homeless people, Chinoros said.
It is also hoped that a network will be created to promote the new approach among institutes. Academic studies, innovations and discussions on the implementation of the recovery-oriented concept used in various countries will also be presented.
Other activities include a talk on "Strategies for Bringing Mental Illness into The Light" by United Nations' special rapporteur on the right to health Dr Dainius Puras, a workshop on illness management and recovery by clinical psychologist and Executive Director of the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University Dr Kim T Mueser, a workshop on well-being by Mahidol University academic Dr Chanida Pachotikan and a workshop on positive psychiatry by Srithanya Hospital psychiatrist Dr Apisamai Srirangsan.