2017 Volume 20 Issue 1 Pages 69-78
Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the characteristics of the complaints of neighbors toward mentally ill persons (MIPs) and the difficulties faced by public health nurses (PHNs) in responding to them, depending on their years of experience in mental health and welfare (MHW).
Method: The subjects were 659 PHNs supporting MIPs in 53 municipalities. A mail-in self-reported questionnaire survey was conducted in 2015, covering the characteristics of the PHNs, the consulters and their main complaints toward MIPs, and the practices and difficulties of PHNs in responding to the most difficult cases. After comparing each item by the t-test, chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis test, we divided the PHNs into 2 groups; those who had less than 10 years of experience in MHW were classified as the ‘<10 years group’, and PHNs who had more than 10 years of experience were classified as the ‘≥ 10 years group’.
Results: Among the 261 PHNs (valid response rate: 40.1%), the ‘< 10 years group’ included 159 persons (60.2%), and the ‘≥ 10 years group’ included 105 persons (39.8%). Neighbors, civil servants, and other municipal staff complained or consulted about the MIPs. The most common request was to ‘hospitalize the MIP’. The ‘≥ 10 years group’ used significantly the approach of ‘enhancing the understanding of mental illnesses than the ‘< 10 years group’.
Conclusions: Through this approach, the ‘≥ 10 years group’ would enrich the complainers’ understanding of MIPs for developing a comfortable community to live for both of them.
