The views of patient relatives and healthcare professionals on the reasons for patients enrolled to the community mental health center to discontinue or irregularly continue the center

This study was conducted for the purpose of determining the views of patient relatives and healthcare professionals on the reasons for patients enrolled to the community mental health center (CMHC) to discontinue or irregularly continue the center. The study is a qualitative phenomenological study. The working group consisted of the relatives of patients discontinuing or irregularly continuing the Denizli State Hospital Community Mental Health Center and the healthcare professionals working in the center. The working group was determined according to the maximum variation sampling. In the study, the personal information form and semi-structured interview method were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed and the models formed using the MAXODA 2018 package program. The data were arranged with the descriptive analysis using common/similar themes. According to the findings acquired from the study, codes related to these themes were determined. The patient relatives stressed that problems related to the center (CMHC) and effects of disease symptoms were the most common reasons. Also, the healthcare professionals indicated that the reasons for the patients to discontinue or irregularly continue the center were problems related to the center-healthcare professionals, level/severity of disease and compliance to treatment. Considering the patients' demographic characteristics; it was revealed that patient care was usually undertaken by the partner and the number of those who had never been hospitalized in a psychiatry clinic was higher. In addition, it was determined that the quality of programs in the center and problems related to the publicity of activities in the center could cause the patients to discontinue or irregularly continue the center. It was revealed that the presence of patients with different diagnoses and symptoms in the CMHC could cause the sick individual to feel hopeless and pessimistic and also refuse to visit the center. Additionally, lack of knowledge, stigmatization, disease symptoms and insufficient family support were defined as the reasons of discontinuing the center. In addition to these, the healthcare professionals stated that more safety measures had to be taken during home visits and there was a need for trainings aimed at increasing the service quality. Evaluating the study results on the basis of the relevant literature; suggestions were offered to increase the quality of activities in the center, organize training programs to increase the effectiveness of the healthcare professionals and increase collaboration with the patient relatives, in order to enable the continuation of the patients enrolled to the CMHC.