Thavody Jayakrishnan, Tharayil Harish M, Chandran Priya, George Biju, Prabakaran Anusha
Dept. of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Manjeri, Kerala.
Dept. of Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Calicut, Kerala.
Indian J Psychol Med. 2020 Dec;42(6 Suppl):S87-S93. doi: 10.1177/0253717620971196. Epub 2020 Dec 14.
India has the second-largest population of elderly in the world. Serious mental illness (SMI) is a subset of the mental disorders that result in significant functional impairment and is usually long term. Persons with SMI face several challenges in their old age that are different from the issues faced by younger people with SMI. Understanding the problems faced by elderly individuals suffering from SMI is fundamental for planning programs to address them. The SENIOR (upport Systems valuation of europsychiatric llness in ld age) project is a study aimed at evaluating the problems faced in obtaining mental health care by elderly persons having SMI in the Kerala state of India.
To describe the scientific methodology of the SENIOR project.
This study employs mixed-methods cross-sectional design among a minimum sample of 768 SMI patients identified through cluster sampling from three districts, and Focus Group Discussion among mental health program officials.
This paper presents a methodological model to assist researchers in future field epidemiological studies on mental illness. Assessing service needs and barriers to access for the most vulnerable among the mentally ill will help the policymakers make evidence-based decisions to improve their quality of life.
印度是世界上老年人口第二多的国家。严重精神疾病（SMI）是精神障碍的一个子集，会导致严重的功能损害，且通常是长期性的。患有严重精神疾病的人在老年时面临着一些与年轻患者不同的挑战。了解患有严重精神疾病的老年人所面临的问题是规划应对这些问题的项目的基础。“老年人（印度老年期欧洲精神疾病支持系统评估）”项目是一项旨在评估印度喀拉拉邦患有严重精神疾病的老年人在获得精神卫生保健方面所面临问题的研究。
描述“老年人”项目的科学方法。
本研究采用混合方法横断面设计，从三个地区通过整群抽样确定了至少768名严重精神疾病患者作为样本，并与精神卫生项目官员进行了焦点小组讨论。
本文提出了一个方法模型，以协助研究人员开展未来关于精神疾病的现场流行病学研究。评估精神病患者中最脆弱群体的服务需求和获取障碍，将有助于政策制定者做出基于证据的决策，以改善他们的生活质量。
