Psychiatric Follow Up Services in Rural Community: An Exploratory Approach

Follow up services are regarded as one of the basic elements of the community based mental health services which helps the patient, caregiver and the family to know about the disorder and to take part in the recovery of the patient with minimal impairment as early diagnosis and prompt treatment reveal in primary prevention. Hence it is important to note that those institutions which are providing community based mental health follow up should provide the services according to the need of the caregiver including all the areas which covers the patient's illness pattern.

The aim of the present study is to assess the awareness of the caregiver on follow up services, to associate follow up services with the selected demographic variables and to prepare a community mental health nursing home visit proforma. Data were collected by descriptive exploratory research design was for the sample consisted of 30 caregivers of the psychiatric patients who are coming first time for the follow up after diagnosis. The findings of this study showed that follow up services provided by the rural psychiatric centre were poor. Investigator found the areas of the follow up services and prepared a community mental health nursing home visit proforma which will help the health care to provide follow up services during home visit.