Liu Yang, from Changchun in Jilin Province has few opportunities to travel outside his hometown. Because of his mental illness, he can hardly talk to others, let alone travel around.
But in the coming week, he and his mother are planning on a two-day visit to neighboring Jilin, thanks to the open community recuperation service (Residential Open Unit) in the Changchun Sixth Hospital, Nanguan District, which gives patients the freedom to communicate with the world outside.
In Nanguan District of Changchun City has been launched the first Residential Open Unit (ROU) for psychiatric patients in July 2013 with the technical support of Peking University Institute of Mental Health (PUIMH)/Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Peking University, and in collaboration with Solidarieta’e Servizio (SeS) and Associazione Italiana Amici di Raoul Follereau (AIFO) that are partners in a specific action co-funded by European Union.
"The opening of the Community Mental Health Units (CMHU) and ROU in the district played active roles in raising the quality of life for psychiatric patients over the past three years,”"said Xi Shuyuan, vice director of the Health Bureau of Changchun, at the opening ceremony of the Forum for Community Mental Health Service held from Sept. 26 to 28.
So far, in the city has been organized Community Based Psychiatric services that give a possibility to Psychiatric Hospital to walk out of the wards and return to society, in line with China's New Mental Health Law of May 2013 that promote the dignity of psychiatric patients.
The concept of "Residential Open Unit" was coined by Italian psychiatrist Franco Basaglia who initiated a law in 1978, closing down psychiatric wards so that people with mental illnesses could live as community residents. The psychiatric service in Italy has matured over the past four decades, and the country is now completely free of asylums.
The Italian visitors buy coffee at a bar managed by psychiatric patients in the Changchun Sixth Hospital.
"The NO. 108 Law [initiated by Franco Basaglia], which enables psychiatric patients to decide their own destiny, has made our dreams come true," said Giovanna Del Giudice, an Italian psychiatrist and a panelist in the forum.
"Despite all the difficulties, the law enables psychiatric patients more rights and requires the society to respect their choices," she said.
In 2008, a chartered train filled with psychiatric patients traveled from Venice, Italy to China, as Marco Polo did in the thirteen Century. In February 2009, a group of Chinese psychiatrists also visited Trento, Italy, to learn from their experiences with ROUs.
In 2009, Rosa Villa, the first ROU funded by SeS, was established in Haidian District, Beijing. The model was expanded to Hadian District, Beijing, Tongling, in Anhui Province, and Changchun in Jilin Province, in partnership with PUIMH.
"We aim to eliminate discrimination and social bias against [psychiatric patients] and we are trying to change people's stereotyped ideas about these patients fundamentally," said Wang Xiangqun, a doctor from the PUIMH.
Discrimination against psychiatric patients remains severe in many parts of China. According to Liu Yang's mother, she does not dare talk about her son's true condition with her neighbors in fear that they will gossip. According to Wang, the ROUs are the first step after leaving hospital in helping those with mental illnesses return to society. However, help from family members and communities is more important in rebuilding patients' confidence and happiness.
Yet the community service cannot be described as "high-standard," according to Li Zhi, a doctor from the Changchun Sixth Hospital.
"When working with the community-level hospitals, we found that many doctors are not professional and they change jobs frequently, therefore, we cannot give them systematic training on how to treat psychiatric patients."
However, Wang argued that the hospitals are merely there for technical support for communities. The government can build the half-way homes for psychiatric patients. Those who work for the ROUs can be people like family members and volunteers, who do not need a large amount of professional knowledge.
Dr. Giovanni Gazzoli, Project Manager of the AIFO, said that mental health and the organization of Community based Psychiatric Services (CMHU and ROU) is an issue that requires support from all areas of society, and not only from mental health services.
相关介绍：
一场旨在消除歧视，帮助精神病患者重新回归社会的社区精神卫生服务论坛于上月末在吉林省长春市召开。
论坛成员由长春第六医院、北京大学第六医院、意大利爱心与服务协会--爱福协会的医生及其他工作人员组成。
长春与爱福协会及北京大学第六医院合作，于2010年建立了开放式居住疗养方式，使得精神病患者在开放式的管理模式下进行康复训练。
长春市卫生局副局长郗书元在论坛开幕式上讲道:“[此项]精神卫生项目在长春三年的开展，通过便捷、全面、高质量的服务对于预防、控制、提高、健全康复者生活质量……起到有利、积极的作用。”
在与意大利爱心与服务协会，北京大学第六医院三年的合作中，长春市共建立了两个开放式社区精神卫生康复中心来帮助精神疾病患者重新走向社会。
开放式社区精神卫生康复的概念最先是由意大利精神病专家弗兰克巴萨利亚提出。意大利于1978年践行了该提议，设立了108号法律，关闭了所有精神病院，并让精神疾病患者与社区居民一起生活。在过去的30年里，意大利的精神卫生服务不断趋向成熟。
【小编推荐】
