Needs and problems related to mental health services in Beijing

Abstract Accounts in the literature show that our understanding of the current needs and problems of mental health services in Mainland China is based on unsystematic observations and theoretical extrapolation. There has not been a survey of practitioners on its current status. This paper describes a small-scale survey conducted in a large psychiatric hospital in Beijing in 1998, which addressed the issues and problems hindering the community integration of people with mental illness, the current concerns of practitioners, and the difficulties hindering the further development of mental health services in Beijing. A specially designed questionnaire was distributed to eligible staff members of the hospital through the chief psychiatrist. Thirty-four questionnaires were returned and analyzed using descriptive and cross-tab statistics. Social discrimination, unsatisfactory social networks, unsatisfactory social skills and lack of community-based rehabilitation facilities were regarded as the most significant problems faced by individuals with severe mental illness returning to the community. Medication, relapse prevention, and family intervention were the issues that attracted the current attention of most respondents. Reservations about the development of vocational rehabilitation were noted. The major difficulties hindering further development of psychiatric rehabilitation include lack of funding, rehabilitation professionals, and physical resources. As the needs and circumstances in China are different from those in Western countries, social and cultural differences must be considered before Western models of rehabilitation can be modified and adopted in China.