During the last few years there has been increasing demands on changes and higher effectiveness in mental health care. As a result, the Psychiatric Clinic in Gävle, Sweden, has made great effort to provide qualified psychiatric care outside the hospital. One step in this process was the opening of the day-care unit ”The Anchor” in May 2001. “The Anchor” is situated in the town centre (not at the hospital), and next doors to the community’s activity centre. As a consequence, the co-operation between different caregivers is strengthened, resulting in an increased possibility to provide care close to the patient’s home and every-day-living.
The unit provides individual care as well as group-treatment for different kinds of mental suffering. The staff is all nurses or mental health assistants and the theoretical foundations are rooted in caring science. An approach inspired by cognitive therapy is used within the caring framework. The patient’s functional level and symptoms was estimated before and after treatment by the means of GAF and SCL-90, and shows significant improvements on the patients’ well-being. Patient satisfaction was studied after treatment by means of a questionnaire, QPP (Quality from the Patient's Perspective).
This way of organising the mental health care, and of using therapeutic methods from a caring perspective thus seams fruitful. The paper will give a brief presentation on the results, but focus on how the staff were prepared and the work organised.