Innovative services: Library for patients and their caregivers in the psychiatry ward.

Sir,

According to the recent data from the national mental health survey, prevalence rate of mental illnesses in India is 10.6%.[1] This translates to a number of about 150 million Indians who are currently suffering from a mental illness and are in need of active psychiatric intervention. Data suggest that inpatient psychiatry care is available for only 10% of the population requiring it.[2] The mental health service model for low-income countries requires establishment of psychiatric service in primary care and inpatient units within general hospital setting, which have been established to an extent by general hospitals with psychiatry units affiliated with over 460 medical colleges across in India.[34] Inpatient care in psychiatry is longer compared to other specialty and varies from a few weeks to months depending on numerous factors. Such long stays require comprehensive strategies apart from the pharmacological and psychological interventions. Efforts are made not only to reduce the stigma but also to enable the patient and caregivers to develop a sense of bonding with the service providers and the institution. This sense of bonding can be established through various methods. One of the most important aspects of any strategy should be utility of their time in the ward in a useful manner, especially after the acute stage. A simple technique would be initiating a compact library and recreational service in the ward which is exclusively for the patients and caregivers. With this idea, J.S.S Medical College and Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Mysore, has initiated the library services in the psychiatry ward which has a good number of books and patient education material both in the vernacular and English language for all age groups. Furthermore, limited games and recreational items for in-house utility were made available free of cost. This model needs further systematic evaluation for their impact on overall outcome of psychiatry inpatient services in a general hospital setting. However, it is suffice to say that such models can be replicated in the rest of the country, in more than 460 medical college hospitals at a nominal cost and that is more likely to be appreciated by the patient and caregiver community.

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Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.