[Evaluation of therapy outcome on a psychiatric admission ward. Background, methods and first results of a project on quality management].

Background: Quality management is an important management tool in modern health care systems. This applies also to the mental health care system, where in the past decade many concepts have been developed on how to implement quality management appropriately and successfully. However, for the German speaking countries there are only very few studies on the evaluation of therapy outcome in psychiatric inpatient populations available, furthermore they deal primarily with diagnostic subgroups.

[Erotomania and Frégoli syndrome. A case report].

A case report of a female schizophrenic patient is presented who showed a coincidence of erotomania and Frégoli syndrome with some interesting symptom constellations only rarely mentioned in the literature. Organic and psychodynamic factors were found in the etiopathogenesis of this disorder. A combination of psychotherapy and neuroleptic therapy was partly successful.

[History and prospects of transcultural psychiatry and psychotherapy].

Transcultural psychiatry and psychotherapy gained importance with the presence of immigrants and refugees in contemporary society. Transcultural psychiatry examines the interaction of culture with the symptoms and course of mental disorders. It focuses on communication and knowledge transfer between professionals and patients and reflects cultural limits in the perception and classification of psychiatric diseases.

[Structures of psychosocial practice--experiences from the polyclinic of the social psychiatric department of the Hannover Medical School].

Basing on the development of communal psychiatry in this country during the past 20 years, the experiences collected in Hanover are outlined and discussed as exemplified by the Outpatient Department of the Department of Sociopsychiatry at Hanover Medical College. The advantages of integrating a College policlinic with sociopsychiatric services are emphasised. Localisation "at site" opens up new possibilities in patient care, teaching and research.