NCJ Number
127857
Date Published
1990
Length
26 pages
Annotation
A World Health Organization (WHO) working group on the Development of Mental Health Care in Primary Health Care (PHC) Settings met in Lisbon (Portugal) on November 15-18, 1989 to discuss the trend in the organization of health care in PHCs follows the anti-institutional trend that began in the 1950s.
Abstract
PHC settings are more flexible and closer to the natural human environment than institutional settings. Primary health networks seem to be the ideal vehicle for psychosocial intervention for at-risk groups such as single mothers with young children or recently bereaved persons. Training for PHC workers is more experiential than cognitive. PHC settings are able to address local needs and resources and to establish long-term trends. A follow-up meeting should be called within the next biennium that involves representatives from other fields as well. The goal is that by the year 2000, the average number of years that people can live free from major disease and disability be increased by at least 10 percent.