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 THE Institute of Mental Health (IMH) is pushing for a simulation laboratory which will use virtual scenarios to teach mental health care professionals what to expect from mentally ill patients and how to react to them.
Previously, only theoretical lessons were provided.
But with the possible setup of such a laboratory – hopefully by next year – doctors and nurses will, with the aid of 3-D technology, learn how to deal with disruptive behaviour during meal and medication times, how to calm an agitated patient, and also how to deal with patients who raise their voices at them. Recreating a psychiatric ward environment will make them better prepared for such situations.
The simulation lab will be part of the Centre for Mental Health Education, which was opened at IMH yesterday.
Established in a bid to keep those in the mental health care industry abreast of the latest available technology and, for the first time, to provide a centralised knowledge bank for mental health, the centre is open to doctors,
nurses and other health care workers here, and even overseas.
Access to databases and resources containing the latest mental health journals and guidelines is already available, thanks to a collaboration with the Joanna Briggs Institute, a global leader in evidence-based health care.
Visitors to the centre can also “sit in” on live conferences in a multimedia classroom which will link them to overseas speakers.
Said Associate Professor Premarani Kannusamy, the institute’s director of nursing: “We want to provide a conducive environment for learning outside of the wards where mental health care professionals can come and educate and enrich themselves using the latest information technology.”
Other than professionals, caregivers of mentally ill patients will also benefit from the centre, as there will be programmes for them by the end of this year.
“Upon discharge, family members need education and support on how to cope on a daily basis with their loved one. This centre will be very helpful in that,” said Ms Michela Irene Choo, a nurse at IMH for 30 years.
She added that it would be an improvement on the short talks that she has been able to have with family members.
One family who may benefit from the centre is the Chans. Mr Chan, who wants to be known only by his surname, has struggled to juggle his job as a service engineer with caring for his schizophrenic wife for 12 years. He said he looks forward to attending sessions at the centre because “there are always new things to learn”.
The centre, which took six months to build and was opened with $680,000 funding from the Lee Foundation, aims to be the regional hub for mental health care training by 2012.
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