Improving cooperation between Hospital and the Community Mental Health Services of Nicosia

Abstract In order to accelerate psychiatric reform in Cyprus we took advantage of JA Implemental during the pilot implementation of Belgium best practices on facilitating the transfer of mental patients from mental hospital to the community mental health services. A multidisciplinary network has been organized between Athalassa Mental Hospital, that is the only mental hospital in the Republic of Cyprus performing 700 patients admissions yearly, and the Community Services of sector 1 and sector 2 of Nicosia Community Mental Services. The network meets regularly in order to facilitate therapeutic culture change in the direction of increasing the percentage of hospital patients that are motivated and prepared to be voluntarily moved for care by the community multidisciplinary teams. This is going to facilitate discharges from hospital, decrease duration of hospitalizations, decrease the frequency of hospitalizations and revolving door readmissions. This increased cooperation is being built on the basis of administrational procedures and clinical protocols that are based on multidisciplinary consensus. The evaluation starts multidisciplinarily in the hospital. A liaison community mental nurse takes part I the evaluation and motivation of the patients before the discharge from the hospital. A written informed consent process takes place in the hospital for the voluntary admission in the community mental health care setting. Also an effort is being made for early written referrals and appointments for community psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker and occupational therapist. This pilot action plan is going to increase cooperation of the mental hospital with the community mental health services, to decrease stigmatization and reform therapeutic culture to the direction of treatment in the community and recovery approach, according to Belgium best practices included in the JA Implemental project.