Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this paper is to review the national community mental health care (CMHC) project in Vietnam and recommend improvements to the model based on findings reported at a national workshop of major service providers, and supplemented by information gathered from site visits and discussions with mental health leaders, professionals and stakeholders in the hospital and community mental health services.
Conclusion: Since 2000, the CMHC project has been carried out in all 63 provinces with an overall national district coverage of around 64% and a total registry of 145 160 patients. It demonstrates a commitment by the government to integrate mental health into primary health care, in line with the World Health Organization recommendations, and set up a national community mental health network. Free treatment is provided for patients, mostly with schizophrenia (62.83%) and epilepsy (34.78%), at the local community level, and a national monitoring system is well established. However, the limitations include the lack of project funds, human resources and facilities, treatment scope, and linkages with families and community. A revised model of CMHC that builds on the strengths of existing services is proposed. While progress in community mental health care in Vietnam has been significant, many challenges facing the CMHC project need addressing.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to Dr Do Huy Hung, Director of Phu Tho Psychiatric Hospital and Dr Hoang Van Nghia, Director of Nam Dinh Psychiatric Hospital for their willingness to share information. The authors would like to acknowledge the following organizations for their assistance in this report: National Psychiatric Hospitals No. 1 and 2, National Institute of Mental Health, Bach Mai General Hospital, Ha Noi Mental Hospital, Mai Huong Daycare Psychiatric Hospital, Ninh Binh Mental Hospital, Phu Xuyen Primary Health Centre, Nam Thanh Primary Health Centre, Research and Training Centre for Community Development. Thanks also to all hospital administrators and mental health professionals who participated in the national workshop on CMHC project in September 2009. We also acknowledge the WHO Country Office for Vietnam for facilitating this consultancy, in particular, Dr Lokky Wai and Dr Lai Duc Truong.
DISCLOSURE
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.