Continuity of care : consumers’ view point

Abstract

During the last few years in Malta, a reform in the mental health services began. The proposed reforms were published in the National Policy document on mental health services, where the main concern was the transformation of the mental health system, to set up adequate and efficient community services. One of the changes that had to be made, was the introduction of continuity of care, which is my choice of topic for my dissertation. Care that is continous, makes the transition from inpatient to community-based care easier and less traumatic, by connecting clients with posthospital caregivers. It is also very important in crisis intervention and the early detection and prevention of relapses. The aim of this research is to compare the' new' services proposed by the reform, with the more traditional ones, to find out whether continuity of care is being achieved, where it is being achieved and how it is being achieved. A structured questionnaire was administered to clients of mental health services and their carers. Finally, according to the results obtained from this survey, recommendations were proposed for improvement of the mental health services in Malta.