Psychiatric care in the Middle East: a "mental health supermarket" in the town of Lod.
It is often in times of political tension and hostilities that community mental health care is neglected. We describe a novel and creative community mental health program where a combination of professional mental health workers and an innovative mental health system network combine to provide a remarkably successful and tension free mental health care arrangement in an area of high political and intergroup hostility. The system, termed the "mental health supermarket," encompasses multi-component rehabilitation, hospital liaison and interagency collaborative care. The framework succeeds in settling fears and insecurities between various communities as well as catering to a fragmented and lower income community, while introducing an element of self-determination in personal mental health care.
Lod Community Mental Health Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Ginette
G
Shaked
Noa
N
Renert
Israela
I
Mahuda
Rael D
RD
Strous
D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008877:Middle East; D011057:Politics