Psychiatric social work and hospital - community mental health center practises (Manisa province case)

Mental illnesses are a kind of sickness which lead to mental, emotional and behavioral disorders and cause adaptation and function disorders in individuals. Especially psychotic disorders like schizophrenia and mood disorders that described as heavy mental disorder effect individuals' one or more basic life activities and cause serious functional disorders. Treatment of mental illnesses is become possible by patients' diagnosis and treatment in terms of holistic biopsychosocial approach in biologic, psychologic and social context. Humanitarian services that are provided should be formed in cohesion and interdisciplinary cooperation should be established in order to ensure this. In this sense, the main goal of this study to analyze psychiatric social work practices and duties of social workers serving on the psychiatric field in Turkey from the point of services executed in preventive, therapeutic and rehabilitative mental health institutions in the context of interviews with social workers and beneficiaries. In regards with this main goal, in-depth interviews made with 52 psychiatric staff serving in Manisa Mental Health and Illness Hospital, Manisa Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) and Celal Bayar University in Manisa Province, as well as with 22 heavy mental disorder patients and 10 relatives in Manisa Community Mental Health Center by using semi-structured interview forms. MAXQDA 2018 qualitative data analysis programme has been used for analyzing interviews. Categories established by the researcher has been imported into MAXQDA programme. These categories have been reviewed in 3 separate groups' aspects. These groups have been analyzed under the topics of opinions of psychiatric staff, patients, patients' relatives and social workers about the hospital, CMHC and duties of social workers. Themes established under this topics fundamentally assembled under 3 titles. These titles are preventive mental health services; therapeutic mental health services (medical, teamwork, social workers' duties) and rehabilitative mental health services (social model, teamwork, revolving door phenomenon and social workers' duties). In consequence of interviews, it is observed that preventive mental health services are not carried out in Turkey; the medical-oriented approach is favored at hospitals while social-oriented approach preferred in CMHC; no teamwork put into practice properly at institutes; CMHCs are effective in preventing recurring hospitalization. Social workers' duties have been identified as social study; work with individual and relatives; advocacy towards individual and groups, case manager; incentive psycho-education, consultancy and discharge planning towards social modal in terms of mental health in psychiatric therapy institutions as mental health and illness' hospitals and hospitals' psychiatric clinics and it is observed that the majority of these duties are not fulfiled properly yet some are executed moderately. Social workers' duties in CMHCs, that are rehabilitative mental health institutions, are advocacy towards individual and groups, work with individual and relatives and providing social functioning bolstering and it is observed that none of these duties are executed by social workers as none have employed in CMHC. Doctors and nurses in CMHC try to carry out these roles and in an event, they cannot be helpful, they referred to the hospital's social worker.