Needs assessed by patients and staff in a Swedish sample of severely mentally ill subjects

Abstract

The Psychiatric care reform in Sweden 1995 points out the importance of considering the patients' own experienced needs. Earlier research has shown that staff and patients differ in their assessment of needs, and the main aim of this study was to increase the understanding of these differences. The sample consisted of people in the city of Jönköping, Sweden, with a mental illness that cause a disability, influencing daily life. Four hundred and eighty-five patients were interviewed, half of them with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Staff assessed the patients' needs by using the Camberwell Assessment of Need. Of the 485 patients 372 also assessed their own needs with the same instrument. The main finding of this study is that staff and patient ratings are not interchangeable. Staff rated more needs, both met and unmet, in nearly all areas. The results differ from those of earlier British studies. These differences may be due to methodologic and cultural circumstances. Decisions about interventions must be based on negotiations between staff and patient and should include relatives and friends.