The fact that patients with severe mental disorders are deprived of social skills and professional pursuits to sustain their lives imposes a burden of care on both their families and the society. Considering that the rehabilitation of individuals with this disease will alleviate the care burden of families and governments, community-based mental health services have been started to be provided in Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC). The aim of this study is to reveal the participation rate of patients receiving service from CMHC in rehabilitation programs and to determine the effect of this participation on hospitalizations and cost-effect. In the study, the file data of 550 patients who were enrolled in a CMHC, followed up between 2014 and 2018, and participated in the rehabilitation program for at least one year, were retrospectively analyzed in statistical analysis. Patients; 44.9% schizophrenia, 39.5% Bipolar Affective Disorder, 11.5% Psychosis, 4.2% Schizoaffective disorder followed up with diagnosis. In the study, the mean duration of the disease was 19.59 ± 9.87, and the age of onset of the disease was 24.18 ± 9.56. The patients are followed by CMHC for an average of 33.77±14.68 months. The mean number of cigarette smokers per day (n=289) was 28.30 ± 16.23. of patients while 48.5% receive only medical treatment in CMHC 51.5% benefit from rehabilitation activities. The 5-year average number of hospitalization days before and after rehabilitation and the costs to the state of the patients were also examined. The number of hospitalization days before rehabilitation decreased from approximately 17 days to 7 days for a patient. The average cost of a patient to the state decreased from 1940 TL to 752 TL. CMHC are very important in order to increase the effectiveness of mental health services and reduce the burden and costs of care due to diseases.
Key words: Cost effect, rehabilitation, public health, community mental health center, psychiatric care
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