Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute Center for Health Services and Society, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 10920 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.
Psychiatr Serv. 2013 Jul 1;64(7):672-9. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201200235.
Community integration is recognized as a crucial component of recovery from serious mental illness. Although the construct of community integration can be measured with structured instruments, little is known about the subjective and experiential meaning of community and community involvement for persons with serious mental illness.
In 2010, 30 individuals with serious mental illness treated in two public mental health clinics completed semistructured interviews that elicited the places and people that they associate with the experience of community and the larger meaning of community in their lives.
Participants described four experiences as integral to their concepts of community: receiving help, minimizing risk, avoiding stigma, and giving back. Participants looked for communities that provide reliable support, and they described the need to manage community contact in order to protect themselves and others from their symptoms and from discrimination. Most participants experienced communities centered on mental health treatment or mentally ill peers as providing opportunities for positive engagement.
The experience of having a serious mental illness shapes preferences for and perceptions of community in pervasive ways. Participants described community involvement not as a means to move away from illness experiences and identities but as a process that is substantially influenced by them. Mental health communities may help individuals with serious mental illness to both manage their illness and recognize and enjoy a sense of community. The findings indicate the need for further research on the relationship between community integration and outcome in serious mental illness.
社区融入被认为是严重精神疾病康复的关键组成部分。尽管社区融入这一概念可以通过结构化的工具进行衡量，但对于严重精神疾病患者来说，社区和社区参与的主观和体验意义知之甚少。
2010 年，在两家公立精神卫生诊所接受治疗的 30 名严重精神疾病患者完成了半结构化访谈，这些访谈引出了他们与社区体验相关的地点和人物，以及社区在他们生活中的更大意义。
参与者描述了四个与他们的社区概念密切相关的体验：接受帮助、最小化风险、避免污名化和回馈。参与者寻找提供可靠支持的社区，他们还描述了需要管理社区联系，以保护自己和他人免受他们的症状和歧视的影响。大多数参与者体验到以精神卫生治疗或精神疾病患者为中心的社区为积极参与提供了机会。
患有严重精神疾病的经历以普遍的方式塑造了对社区的偏好和认知。参与者描述社区参与不是为了摆脱疾病经历和身份，而是一个深受其影响的过程。精神卫生社区可以帮助严重精神疾病患者管理他们的疾病，同时认识和享受社区感。研究结果表明，需要进一步研究严重精神疾病患者的社区融入与结果之间的关系。
