Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Needs Assessment of Individuals with Serious Mental Illness: Can It Help in Promoting Recovery?

  • Brief Report
  • Published:
Community Mental Health Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Needs of individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) must be understood in order to promote recovery. This study examined the needs of 206 individuals with SMI and compared their perceptions with those of their professional caregivers. Needs were reported in the areas of accommodations, psychotic symptoms, daytime activity, intimate relationships, and psychological distress. Caregivers reported more met needs, while individuals themselves reported more unmet needs. Results suggest that in order to promote recovery, services for persons with SMI should be developed in accordance with patients’ most prominent needs, specifically in the social and personal areas of intimate and sexual relationships.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anthony, W. (1993). Recovery from mental illness: The guiding vision of the mental health system in the 1990s. Innovations and Research, 2, 17–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 37–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Weert-van Oene, G. H., Havenaar, J. M., & Schrijvers, A. J. P. (2009). Self-assessment of need for help in patients undergoing psychiatric treatment. Psychiatry Research, 167(3), 221–230.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Department of Health Social Services Inspectorate. (1991). Care management and assessment: Practitioners’ guide. London: HMSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drukker, M., van Dillen, K., Bak, M., Mengelers, R., van Os, J., & Delespaul, P. (2008). The use of the Camberwell assessment of need in treatment: What unmet needs can be met? Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43, 410–417.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eklund, M., & Ostman, M. (2010). Belonging and doing: Important factors for satisfaction with sexual relations as perceived by people with persistent mental illness. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 56, 336–347.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grinshpoon, A., Friger, M., Orev, E., Shvarts, S., Kaplan, Z., Abramowitz, M. Z., et al. (2008). Relative perception of the needs of inpatients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Relates Sciences, 45, 201–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansson, L., Sandlund, M., Bengtsson-Tops, A., Bjarnason, O., Karlsson, H., Mackeprang, T., et al. (2003). The relationship of needs and quality of life in persons with schizophrenia living in the community: A Nordic multi-center study. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 57, 5–11.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Junghan, U. M., Leese, M., Priebe, S., & Slade, M. (2007). Staff and patient perspectives on unmet need and therapeutic alliance in community mental health services. British Journal of Psychiatry, 191, 543–547.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kulhara, P., Avasthi, A., Grover, S., Sharan, P., Sharma, P., Malhotra, S., et al. (2010). Needs of Indian schizophrenia patients: An exploratory study from India. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 45, 809–818.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33, 159–174.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lasalvia, A., Ruggeri, M., Mazzi, M. A., & Dall’Agnola, R. B. (2000). The perception of needs for care in staff and patients in community-based mental health services: The South Verona Outcome Project. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 102, 366–375.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Macpherson, R., Collins-Atkins, C., Gregory, N., Slade, M., & Lerescu, T. (2008). The relationships between user, carer and staff perception of need in an assertive outreach team. Journal of Mental Health, 17, 452–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macpherson, R., Haynes, R., Summerfield, L., Foy, C., & Slade, M. (2003). From research to practice: A local mental health services needs assessment. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 38, 276–281.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCrone, P., Leese, M., Thornicroft, G., Schene, A., Knudsen, H. C., Vazquez-Barquero, J. L., et al. (2001). A comparison of needs of patients with schizophrenia in five European countries: The EPSILON study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 103(5), 370–379.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perkins, K., & Repper, J. (2004). Rehabilitation and recovery. In I. Norman & E. Ryrie (Eds.), The art and science of mental health nursing: A text book of principles and practice (p. 128). Berkshire: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phelan, M., Slade, M., Thornicroft, G., Dunn, G., Holloway, F., Wykes, T., et al. (1995). The Camberwell assessment of need: The validity and reliability of an instrument to assess the needs of people with severe mental illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 589–595.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, C., & Browne, G. (2009). Sexuality of people with mental illness: A collaborative challenge for mental health nurses. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 18, 195–203.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shteruch, N., Shershevsky, Y., Naon, D., Daniel, N., & Fishman, N. (2009). People with serious mental illness in Israel: A joint perspective of services (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Brookdale Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slade, M. (2010). Mental illness and well-being: The central importance of positive psychology and recovery approaches. BMC Health Services Research, 10, 26.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Slade, M., Leese, M., Taylor, R., & Thornicroft, G. (1999). The association between needs and quality of life in an epidemiologically representative sample of people with psychosis. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 100, 149–157.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, R. W. (2004). Sexual medicine: Why psychiatrists must talk to their patients about sex. Canadian Journal Psychiatry, 49, 673–677.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Rehabilitation of Psychiatrically Disabled Persons in the Community Act. (2000). Laws of the State of Israel 1746. Retrieved. from.

  • Trauer, T., Tobias, G., & Slade, M. (2008). Development and evaluation of a patient-rated version of the Camberwell assessment of need short appraisal schedule (CANSAS-P). Community Mental Health Journal, 44, 113–124.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wiersma, D., Niehuis, F. J., Giel, R., & Slooff, C. J. (1998). Stability and change in needs of patients with schizophrenic disorders: A 15-and 17-year follow-up from first onset of psychosis, and a comparison between ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ assessment of needs for care. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 33, 49–56.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wiersma, D., van den Brink, R., Wolters, K., McCabe, R., Bullenkamp, J., Hansson, L., et al. (2009). Individual unmet needs for care: Are they sensitive as outcome criterion for the effectiveness of mental health services interventions? Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 44, 317–324.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, L. L., Liu, S. K., & Hwu, H. G. (2011). Needs and demands for community psychiatric rehabilitation programs from the perspectives of patients and caregivers. Community Mental Health Journal, 47, 415–423.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the interviewers that took part in this study and all the individuals who agreed to participate in the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shirli Werner.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Werner, S. Needs Assessment of Individuals with Serious Mental Illness: Can It Help in Promoting Recovery?. Community Ment Health J 48, 568–573 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-011-9478-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-011-9478-6

Keywords

Navigation