The Barents project in psychiatry: a systematic comparative mental health services study between Northern Norway and Archangelsk County.
BACKGROUND
There is virtually no readily accessible systematically recorded evidence on how the organization of mental health services in Europe's largest country, Russia, may differ from other national systems. This study systematically compares the mental health services in Archangelsk County and Northern Norway using instruments developed for trans-cultural use.


METHODS
The European Service Mapping Schedule (ESMS) and The International Classification of Mental Health Care (ICMHC) were used to describe: (i) resources, organisation and utilisation of the services; (ii) their decentralisation and differentiation; (iii) some interventions delivered by the mental health service units (n = 132) in both regions.


RESULTS
The Norwegian services are more decentralised and differentiated, while the Russian services are largely hospital-based. The GPs are of considerable importance to the Norwegian services, functioning as gatekeepers-both centrally and peripherally. In contrast, the GP model is still poorly established in Archangelsk County. There are more units for long term stay in the Russian services than in Norway. General health care and taking over daily living activities are more organised in Archangelsk County, while psychopharmacological treatment and psychosocial interventions are more developed in Norway.


CONCLUSIONS
The study has revealed several differences in resources, organisation and utilisation of the mental health services between the two compared areas. The very large variations indicate that underlying local patterns of service delivering must be further investigated and taken into account in the planning of the services development.
Rezvyy
Grigory
G
Nordland Hospital, Kløveråsveien 1, 8002, Bodø, Norway. grigory.rezvy@nlsh.no
Oiesvold
Terje
T
Parniakov
Alexander
A
Ponomarev
Oleg
O
Lazurko
Olga
O
Olstad
Reidun
R
D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003688:Deinstitutionalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D012426:Russia / Q000453:epidemiology