Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2012 Dec;126(6):440-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2012.01867.x. Epub 2012 Apr 26.
To investigate the impact of a Western mental health training course for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners.
A combined qualitative and quantitative approach was applied to examine the changes in the TCM practitioners' clinical practice characteristics and attitudes. Focus groups and structured questionnaire surveys were conducted to compare their responses before and after the Course.
After a 10-week training course conducted by psychiatrists and family physicians, there were significant changes in confidence of the TCM practitioners for diagnosis (33% being confident before the Course vs. 76% after the Course) and management (24% vs. 55%) of common mental health problems. The causal effects of better classifications to recognition of mental health problems were explained by the qualitative responses. Proportion of TCM practitioners being confident of referring mental health patients to other healthcare professionals doubled from 25% to 50% after the Course. Nonetheless, there was no significant change in percentage of these patients being recommended to Western doctors owing to a lack of formal referral channel.
Western mental health training for TCM practitioners has positive impact on their clinical practice. However, the practical barriers in making referrals highlight the need of closer collaboration between conventional and traditional medicine.
调查中医从业者接受西方心理健康培训课程的影响。
采用定性和定量相结合的方法，考察中医从业者临床实践特征和态度的变化。通过焦点小组和结构化问卷调查，比较他们在课程前后的反应。
在精神科医生和家庭医生进行为期 10 周的培训课程后，中医从业者对常见心理健康问题的诊断（课程前有 33%有信心，课程后有 76%有信心）和管理（课程前有 24%，课程后有 55%）的信心有显著变化。定性反应解释了更好的分类对心理健康问题识别的因果效应。课程后，有信心将心理健康患者转介给其他医疗保健专业人员的中医从业者比例从 25%增加到 50%。然而，由于缺乏正式的转介渠道，被推荐给西医的这些患者的比例没有显著变化。
对中医从业者进行西方心理健康培训对其临床实践有积极影响。然而，在转介方面存在实际障碍，这凸显了传统医学与传统医学之间更紧密合作的必要性。
