[9-17] Hurdles in the discharge adjustment for long-term psychiatric inpatients
Presentation language：Japanese
The purpose of this study was to clarify the perception of hurdles in the discharge adjustment for long-stay psychiatric inpatients. Study participants were two men and three women, in late 20s to early 40s, hospitalized for 4 to 7 years (average 5.6 years), with diagnosis of schizophrenia, and in the process of receiving hospital discharge assistance. Two of them were also receiving regional administrative discharge assistance. A descriptive study using semi-structured interview method was employed, and the data were analyzed by the qualitative induction method. The study was conducted with the approval of Shiga University of Medical Science Research Ethics Committee. Two categories reflecting the perceived hurdles for discharge adjustment for long-stay psychiatric patients emerged from 11 subcategories which were derived from 56 codes: (1) concern for acquisition of a new set of life skills, and (2)concern for remission of mental symptoms and relapse, which some of the participants had been experiencing in the process of discharge preparation. For patients, whose hospital life had occupied a large part of their lives and successfully acquired skills to stay in the hospital, leaving the well-known environment may pose a particular burden.