Background and Purpose: Societal norms and lifestyles are changing rapidly and the occurrence ratio of various psychiatric problems has accelerated due to stress adaptation problems. However, the morbidity caused by psychiatric disorders can be reduced by respecting the need to address Mental Health Services, in addition, the efficiency of the social economy could be advanced. Nevertheless, most people with psychological disturbances go for non-psychiatric help while only a few of them seek professional psychiatric help. Thus, proper psychiatric care is usually delayed, medical resources are misused, and the cost to society also increases. Therefore, the concepts of preventing mental health problems should be strengthened, and providing convenient Community Mental Health Service (CMHS) is necessary for improving Public Mental Health. In the present study, we probed the mental health service needs of residents of Taipei, Taiwan by investigating the fruitful results of the model for the Community Agency Counseling Service provided in 11 districts in order to contribute to further studies in related models. Methods: We studied the CMHS in 11 districts of Taipei, Taiwan through the outpatient clinics of Taipei City Hospital conducted by licensed professional counselors and clinical psychologists. Consumers of the service were those who lived or worked in Taipei. Satisfaction questionnaires of the services were provided after every counseling session to acknowledge the dictums related to the CMHS. Results: A total of 1309 people received 3478 sessions of CMHS in 2006. Clients who participated in the study were originally from the 12 districts of Taipei City and most of them were females. Ages of clients in CMHS were in between 20 to 49 years old. The differences in the ages and the proportions of gender between the districts were significant (χ^2=116.81, p<0.001; χ^2=525.18, p<0.001). The CMHS provided 1023 clinics within 2006, and total reservation rate (RR) was 76.6% with 56.7% of actual appearance rate (AAR). There were also significant differences in RR and AAR between the districts (RR: F=11.14, p<0.001; AAR: F=10.78, p<0.001). The reasons the residents sought out the CMHS were as follows: suicide related disturbances (1.5%), depression related mental illness (18.1%), emotional disturbances (36.9%), and stress related disturbances (31.9%). There were also differences in reasons in seeking out the CMHS between districts (χ^2=25.33~120.16, p<0.05), and gender differences influenced the needs for seeking out the CMHS. The women presented with more depression, stress, emotional, and marital related disturbances than the men (χ^2=6.83, p<0.01; χ^2=12.73, p<0.001; χ^2=21.01, p<0.001; χ^2=37.99, p<0.001). Whereas, the men exhibited more disturbances in life planning and schooling (χ^2=17.52, p<0.001; χ^2=19.15, p<0.001). The satisfaction rate of the CMHS was 97%. A total of 99% of the clients denoted recommendations for the CMHS. Conclusion: The CMHS, indeed, fulfilled the mental service needs of the community residents. The uniqueness of each different district was distinguished in order to formulate proper public health policies. Further investigations on the quality, stability and efficiency of the model of the CMHS were recommended.
Background and Purpose: Societal norms and lifestyles are changing rapidly and the occurrence ratio of various psychiatric problems has accelerated due to stress adaptation problems. However, the morbidity caused by psychiatric disorders can be reduced by respecting the need to address Mental Health Services, in addition, the efficiency of the social economy could be advanced. Nevertheless, most people with psychological disturbances go for non-psychiatric help while only a few of them seek professional psychiatric help. Thus, proper psychiatric care is usually delayed, medical resources are misused, and the cost to society also increases. Therefore, the concepts of preventing mental health problems should be strengthened, and providing convenient Community Mental Health Service (CMHS) is necessary for improving Public Mental Health. In the present study, we probed the mental health service needs of residents of Taipei, Taiwan by investigating the fruitful results of the model for the Community Agency Counseling Service provided in 11 districts in order to contribute to further studies in related models. Methods: We studied the CMHS in 11 districts of Taipei, Taiwan through the outpatient clinics of Taipei City Hospital conducted by licensed professional counselors and clinical psychologists. Consumers of the service were those who lived or worked in Taipei. Satisfaction questionnaires of the services were provided after every counseling session to acknowledge the dictums related to the CMHS. Results: A total of 1309 people received 3478 sessions of CMHS in 2006. Clients who participated in the study were originally from the 12 districts of Taipei City and most of them were females. Ages of clients in CMHS were in between 20 to 49 years old. The differences in the ages and the proportions of gender between the districts were significant (χ^2=116.81, p<0.001; χ^2=525.18, p<0.001). The CMHS provided 1023 clinics within 2006, and total reservation rate (RR) was 76.6% with 56.7% of actual appearance rate (AAR). There were also significant differences in RR and AAR between the districts (RR: F=11.14, p<0.001; AAR: F=10.78, p<0.001). The reasons the residents sought out the CMHS were as follows: suicide related disturbances (1.5%), depression related mental illness (18.1%), emotional disturbances (36.9%), and stress related disturbances (31.9%). There were also differences in reasons in seeking out the CMHS between districts (χ^2=25.33~120.16, p<0.05), and gender differences influenced the needs for seeking out the CMHS. The women presented with more depression, stress, emotional, and marital related disturbances than the men (χ^2=6.83, p<0.01; χ^2=12.73, p<0.001; χ^2=21.01, p<0.001; χ^2=37.99, p<0.001). Whereas, the men exhibited more disturbances in life planning and schooling (χ^2=17.52, p<0.001; χ^2=19.15, p<0.001). The satisfaction rate of the CMHS was 97%. A total of 99% of the clients denoted recommendations for the CMHS. Conclusion: The CMHS, indeed, fulfilled the mental service needs of the community residents. The uniqueness of each different district was distinguished in order to formulate proper public health policies. Further investigations on the quality, stability and efficiency of the model of the CMHS were recommended.