“This book is about me and you, about us – who are so different from the society. Let me tell you about my disease – my diagnosis – schizophrenia.”
This is the first line of the book, which brings together the works of people with mental problems – drawings, sketches, diary records … Presentation of the book, along with a documentary film was held on September 8, at the Hotel “Ambassador”.
It was kind of a conference where people receiving the Assertive Community Treatment talked about the outcomes of community-based mental health services. The event was attended by 11 patients, who frequently received treatment in a psychiatric hospital, as well as community-based services. They talked about the differences between these two approaches and about the outcomes and effectiveness of community-based mental health services, based on their own experience. New model of community-based mental health service – “Assertive Community Treatment” (ACT) has been introduced in Georgia since 2013. This is the complex of treatment and rehabilitation, which is common in the United States and Western European countries. Its main objective is the outpatient treatment and rehabilitation of people with mental problems for 24 hours. A multidisciplinary team consisting of nine people (psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, nurse, occupational therapist, educator has daily contact with the patient. Currently, this service has 45 beneficiaries. “Assertive Community Treatment” is a newly introduced approach in Georgia and its establishment was initiated by American organization – “People Helping People.”
“In Georgia, community-based service was offered since 90s in the form of rehabilitation and crisis center. However, today we are talking about the community-based service, which was introduced in 2013 and which includes the components of outpatient treatment and social support in parallel with the rehabilitation and crisis management. This is a comprehensive approach, as a result of which these people will return to the community and will not have to spend their life in hospitals” – said Nino Abdushelishvili, the representative of American Office of “Assertive Community Treatment” (ACT) and the founder of the Georgian program.
Services for patients are funded by the program of the City Hall and Open Society Georgia Foundation, respectively, services are free for patients.
For involving the patients in the free program, they must meet two criteria: 1. They should be diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. 2. They should have undergone three institutional treatments during the past 1 year.
“We are glad that the government began to finance these services. It would be better if the number of beneficiaries will increase to 100, and the number of personnel – to 12.
“We hope that the state will further expand its funding and our services can be offered to a maximum number of patients” – said Guram Cheishvili, the Manager of ACT program in Georgia.