Objective: To describe the characteristics of persons with mental illnesses who have been discharged from psychiatric hospital care recently. Methods: Descriptive study conducted with a sample of 48 patients between December 17 2007 and April 17 2008. Data were collected through the economic and social questionnaire that gathers socio-demographic information including psychiatric hospitalizations and patient's knowledge of diagnosis and psychopharmacological treatment. Results: The mean age of the participants was 39 years. The majority were women (n = 39), had at least one previous hospitalization (62.5%), and did not know the diagnosis of their mental illness. Schizophrenia and/or Schizotypic Disorders were the most common types of mental illnesses (33.3%). Less than half of participants (43.8%) were able to verbalize the name and dosage of their medications correctly. Conclusion: Knowing those patients characteristics may be helpful in planning and implementing the best mental health treatment that includes professional support and effective psycho educational intervention.
Psychiatric nursing; Rehabilitation nursing; Mentally ill persons; Hospitals, psychiatric; Mental health
