National Dengue Control Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka.
Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka.
Psychogeriatrics. 2019 Sep;19(5):413-418. doi: 10.1111/psyg.12401. Epub 2019 Jan 31.
Mental health is a neglected area within the healthcare systems in developing nations, including Sri Lanka. However, the rapid population aging and the resulting rise in psychological issues among the elderly are becoming major concerns within the country. Therefore, a proper assessment of distribution of mental healthcare facilities within the country is much needed in reducing the unmet need among people with psychological symptoms. In this study, the distribution of mental health services within the district of Colombo, which is the capital of the country, was assessed.
With this view, mapping of mental healthcare services within the district of Colombo was carried out using the Geographic Information System to assess service and human resource availability and physical accessibility to the elderly within the district.
Certain deficiencies in availability and accessibility of the services were identified which were more significant toward eastern parts of the district.
Establishment of new mental healthcare facilities as well as upgrading of already available centres while ensuring availability of professional human resources to these centres is a timely need.
心理健康是发展中国家医疗体系中被忽视的领域，包括斯里兰卡。然而，人口快速老龄化以及由此导致的老年人心理问题的增加，正在成为该国的主要关注点。因此，为了减少有心理症状人群的未满足需求，非常有必要对全国精神卫生保健设施的分布情况进行适当评估。在这项研究中，评估了该国首都科伦坡地区的精神卫生服务分布情况。
基于这一观点，利用地理信息系统对科伦坡地区的精神卫生服务进行了绘图，以评估该地区老年人的服务和人力资源可用性以及身体可达性。
确定了服务的可用性和可达性方面的某些不足，而且这些不足在该地区的东部更为明显。
及时需要建立新的精神卫生保健设施，并升级现有的中心，同时确保这些中心有专业人力资源。
