EXPECTATION FOR CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS IN ACT TEAM FROM THE NEEDS OF OUTREACH SERVICE USERS

Abstract

Objective：There is an urgent need to improve and develop an outreach service system in Japan, and understanding the needs of the service users is crucial to provide high-quality care in the future. The purpose of this study is to investigate the needs of the outreach service users and to explore the expectation for psychologists in the outreach service team.

Method：The participants are 19 of 68 patients in the outreach service, who have agreed to participate. The researcher accompanied the staffs to the community area. The participants are asked to answer the questionnaires about the current service and the expectations about the future service. Based on the result of this research and the previous ones, quantitative analysis is done, and the needs of the outreach service users are extracted.

Results：The answers show that “being a conversation partner,” “consulting about the future,” “managing their condition by examining body temperatures and blood pressures,” and “assessing the symptoms and mental status through psychological tests” are the highest needs for the outreach service staffs, while “helping the users with daily routines such as cleaning and laundry” was the lowest need.

Discussion：This study indicates that outreach service users need wide ranges of supports on medical, social work, and psychological areas. Wanting to have a conversation partner indicates that outreach service users hope to have direct contacts with people, which gives us the insight about the needs for clinical psychologists in the outreach service. Needs for a mental state assessment through psychological tests and communication skills training are high, and these needs also can be met by clinical psychologists as well.