Abstract
[Purpose] The Mental Health Counseling Room was set up as part of the “Town Health-Care Room,” led mainly by faculties. This set up aimed to provide short-term counseling and nursing support for individuals with anxiety or difficulty handling their own or their family member’s mental health. This study aimed to preliminarily explore the needs of participants, the role of this counseling and nursing support, and challenges for the future.
[Methods] A questionnaire survey on such as satisfaction degree was conducted after the initial counseling. The contents of each counseling and provided supports were taken notes and analyzed.
[Results] From March 2017 to February 2019, six participants aged between 20’s and 60’s visited the Room; of these participants, only one was male. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Among these participants, four participants were counseled regarding their own mental health, whereas the other two were counseled on how to deal with a family member who has a mental health problem. Various types of support were provided, including active listening to the participant’s stories, positive feedback for their efforts, suggestions in creating a small step-chart or action plan for handling such health problems, analyzing current situations, advising on how to deal with their families, and the inner reflection of their character tendency.
[Conclusion] Participants generally showed a high level of satisfaction for counseling and nursing support. Future challenges that were discussed were as follows: provision of continual support for the participants, association with other organizations, the acquisition and improvements of skills among consultees, and effective public relations.
