Road to Home: Journey of Homeless Persons with Mental Illness and the Stakeholders Involved: A Case Series

AbstractHomeless Persons with Mental Illness (HPMI) landing at a psychiatric hospital is no longer uncommon. This population is mostly found wandering in a disheveled state, lying on the streets disinhibited of the surroundings, getting triggered in public places and being aggressive which often led to complaints by the public, eventually, they are commonly brought by the general public or police into the psychiatric hospital. A person with mental illness has a right to have a family; due regard to their rights, the psychiatric social worker of the multidisciplinary mental health team renders the services in tracing their family for reintegration followed by treatment. This process warrants the PSW team to seek help from various Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) and modern technologies. Furthermore, this journey poses various challenges, from attaining patient information to persuading the family members to accept them. This case series draws attention to such scenarios of hospital admission of HPMI, the techniques, challenges and key CBOs involved in this process, and the way forward in easing this venture.
Source: Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research