De-institutionalization and Community Reintegration of Homeless Mentally ill: A Retrospective Study

By : Pradeep Kumar , Vikash Ranjan Sharma , Ajit Nagar , Amit Soni , Rajiv Gupta

Page No: 95-102

Abstract
Homeless mentally ill (HMI) people are a major social and public health concern worldwide. HMI people also represent a unique problem in developing countries like India in the context of treatment, medico-legal & rehabilitation issue. The Deinstitutionalization and their Community reintegration has not much research been carried out. The aim of study was to study process of De-institutionalization and reintegration of the HMI into the community. This is retrospective review of case record file of HMI people, who were admitted at the State Institute of Mental Health, Rohtak, Haryana from the period of Jan 2014 to August 2018. The process of community reiteration was carried out by four (4) steps: (i) Enrollment for Aadhar Card (ii) Applied unstructured In-depth interview techniques using regional language for gathering qualitative information (III) Application of information communication technology like, multimedia, Google map, mobile phone, internet etc., for trace out their address (iv) Communication with local police, Zila Parishad and Gram Panchayat to reach the family members. Forty Six HMI people were admitted in the Institute in last 4 years, out of which 31 (69%) were reintegrated into the community, 23 (50%) were reintegrated into the family residing in different states of the country (India) & 8 (17%) were shifted to the government/non-governmental organizations. Primary health and support for HMI is a major public policy challenge. The findings of the study show some strategies, which can help to reintegrate these people into the community. The process of reintegration of these into the community is a difficult task; we have planned to involve various stages, which helped us to reintegrate these people into the community.

Authors :
Pradeep Kumar : M.Phil, Ph.D, Psychiatric Social Worker – State Institute of Mental Health, University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana-124001.
Vikash Ranjan Sharma : M.Phil, Psychiatric Social Worker – State Institute of Mental Health, University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana-124001
Ajit Nagar : MBBS, Medical Officer – State Institute of Mental Health, University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana-124001.
Amit Soni : MD, Medical Officer (psychiatrist) – State Institute of Mental Health, University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana-124001.
Rajiv Gupta : MD, Director-cum-CEO – Institute of Mental Health, University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana-124001
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/JPR.2019.14.01.10