Česky
"From the very beginning of this project, our goal has been to do psychiatry differently, to offer people with mental illness an environment in which we can show that it is possible to do psychiatry at a high level even in Czech conditions. Modern, unique, comprehensive and at the level of the 21st century - this is the kind of care our clients deserve and this is what our facility offers them. We are currently trying to continue expanding our services so that we can open our innovative therapies to more patients," said Ing. Sotirios Zavalianis, owner of AKESO Healthcare Holding, under which the Centre for Mental Rehabilitation (CDR) together with other facilities belongs.
In the CDR, health professionals of different specialisations work together in a coordinated way to ensure a holistic approach to the treatment of mental health problems. This covers both the physical and psychological elements of mental health. "We know from clinical experience and research that mental illness tends to be associated with a range of physical illnesses and often disadvantageous personal habits. We focus on these aspects, among others, and address them in our therapeutic programmes. Our approach here consists, for example, of combining psychiatric and psychotherapeutic care with physical activities and the involvement of neurostimulation methods," explained Deputy Minister for Mental Health Martin Hollý, MBA.
Currently, four inpatient wards are fully operational. Two of them are dedicated to the acute care regime, where experienced staff attend to patients with the most severe symptoms of mental illness and also to clients whose condition requires an urgent approach. The other two psychotherapy wards provide help for people suffering from, for example, borderline personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder or anxiety disorders through a specifically designed programme. There is also a 24/7 acute reception, a fully operational psychiatric and psychological outpatient department and an adolescent inpatient unit.
For the coming year, we are planning mainly to expand existing services. The outpatient clinics will increase their opening hours and the inpatient clinics will start selecting patients for specialised programmes from November. In addition, plans are in place to open a paedopsychiatric unit which will focus on the diagnosis, treatment and support of child and adolescent patients. "This part of the care should be up and running during this autumn. We definitely encourage you to keep an eye on our website, where we will keep you informed of the exact date," said Deputy for Project Management Mgr. Pavel Scholz, Ph.D.
Further expansion of CDR services and the opening of new departments will not be without new qualified staff in the longer term. Thus, a programme is currently underway to invite new colleagues to join the CDR, not only psychiatrists, but also other professionals such as psychologists, psychotherapists and general nurses. "The lack of staff is limiting for everyone. In our case, we try to eliminate this by offering a wide range of interesting employee benefits, a nice and friendly working environment, but also, for example, by expanding our qualifications. For example, we have started an accredited psychiatric nursing course for graduates in the field of general nursing, which will ensure that those interested are qualified to work in this field. A huge advantage is that both the educational and practical parts of this course take place in our hospital," continues Pavel Scholz.
The CDR has ambitions to become a solid regional hub in the future, linking other functioning state and non-state institutions that are dedicated to mental health care. The aim will be to suggest other ways for discharged patients to continue their treatment.
"We are aware that after completing treatment with us, patients still have limited options on how to progress further on their journey to recovery. Therefore, in addition to our efforts to expand our services and deepen our collaboration with other organisations, we also launched the Mindwell digital psychotherapy platform more than a year ago. This is based on cognitive-behavioural therapy and has the advantage of working perfectly remotely, so the main aim is to increase access to quality care precisely in situations where patients have to face long waiting times. It is designed for mild and moderate symptoms of depression, anxiety or works as a prevention of mental illness," concludes Pavel Scholz.
