Mental health promotion competencies in the health sector in Finland: a qualitative study of the views of professionals.

Aims: In this study, we aimed to investigate what competencies are needed for mental health promotion in health sector practice in Finland.

Methods: A qualitative study was carried out to seek the views of mental health professionals regarding mental health promotion-related competencies. The data were collected via two focus groups and a questionnaire survey of professionals working in the health sector in Finland.

Predictors of completing compulsory military service among men who have received a temporary exemption from service.

Military or alternative civilian service is obligatory for all Finnish male citizens. About 70% of each annual age cohort carry out this service. The rest are given either a permanent or temporary exemption from military or civil service.

Employment predictors for discharged schizophrenia patients.

Objective: To investigate predictors for competitive employment in a three-year follow-up study of discharged schizophrenia patients.

Methods: The nationally representative sample comprised 2168 schizophrenia patients aged 15-64 years, who had been discharged from psychiatric hospitals in 1986, 1990, and 1994 in Finland. Comprehensive data were collected from psychiatric case records on the patients' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics at discharge and use of services during the follow-up period.

Body mass index and functioning in long-term schizophrenia. Results of the DSP project.

Objective: The study evaluates the association of body mass index (BMI) with functioning in male and female patients with long-term schizophrenia.

Method: 722 long-term schizophrenia patients were interviewed three years after discharge from hospital. Their weight and height were recorded and data on their background, illness history, psychosocial functioning (Global Assessment Scale; GAS), health behaviour, daily doses of neuroleptics, and psychiatric symptoms were collected.

Subjective life satisfaction and living situations of persons in Finland with long-term schizophrenia.

Objective: This study measured subjective life satisfaction among patients with long-term schizophrenia who were living in the community.

Methods: A representative national sample of 2,221 persons with schizophrenia who were discharged from psychiatric hospitals in Finland in 1986, 1990, and 1994 were interviewed three years after discharge. Subjective life satisfaction was measured; patients were asked about their current level of satisfaction and the level of satisfaction they recalled having at the time of discharge.

Violent victimization in schizophrenia.

Background: We investigated the 3-year prevalence, and the sociodemographic and clinical correlates of violent victimization in a large and unselected nationwide sample of deinstitutionalized patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: The sample comprised 670 schizophrenic patients aged 15-64 years, who had been discharged from psychiatric hospitals in Finland in 1994. Comprehensive data were collected from psychiatric case records on the patients' sociodemographic factors and psychiatric history, as well as the patients' overall level of functioning.

Educational intervention for the relatives of schizophrenia patients in Finland.

Two methods of providing an educational intervention for families of patients with schizophrenia in Finland were compared. The aims of the intervention were to improve relatives' level of knowledge about the illness, and change the level of expressed emotion (EE), objective burden and psychological distress. Sixty-nine persons participated in the oral presentation groups comprising eight sessions and 128 persons participated in the video education comprising six sessions.

Schizophrenic patients in different treatment settings during the era of deinstitutionalization: three-year follow-up of three discharge cohorts in Finland.

Objective: We investigated differences in psychosocial and clinical characteristics, as well as the use of services, of schizophrenic patients in different treatment settings three years after their discharge from a psychiatric hospital. Furthermore, we examined secular changes in these phenomena during the era of rapid deinstitutionalization in Finland.

Method: Three nationally representative samples comprised 3257 schizophrenic patients who had been discharged in 1986, 1990 and 1994.

Symptom dimensions and their association with outcome and treatment setting in long-term schizophrenia. Results of the DSP project.

National representative samples of 1571 schizophrenia patients discharged from mental hospitals in Finland in 1990 and 1994 were interviewed 3 years after discharge. The symptom items assessed by the PANSS were factorized and orthogonal rotations were performed. Five factor dimensions, negative, positive, depressive, hostile and disorganization dimension, were obtained and correlated with data of patients' socio-demographic background, clinical history, condition and outcome.

Caregiving types and psychosocial well-being of caregivers of people with mental illness in Finland.

The burden on caregivers of the mentally ill and their need for information and support have been well documented. The present study aimed to describe how different types of caregivers cope with the demands imposed by a family member's mental illness. Five distinct types of caregivers were identified according to the caregiving dimensions: supervising, anxious, coping, resigned, and activating.

Negative symptoms and neuroleptics in catatonic schizophrenia.

The association between neuroleptic treatment and the negative symptom dimension (ND) was evaluated in 1528 schizophrenia patients. In patients receiving more than 820 mg chlorpromazine (CPZ), those with catatonic-type disorder had significantly (p<0.05) higher ND scores than those in any of the other diagnostic subtypes.