Tottori J. Clin. Res. 8(1), 38-44, 2016

Current Status of Home-visit Psychiatric Nursing
Ayumi Iwamoto1), Mayuko Ago1), Teruhisa Yasuoka1), Mayumi Hanazono2), Chiaki Fukuoka2),
Sumiko Shimizu1)*
1) Community-based Medical Liaison Office, Department of Nursing, NHO Tottori Medical Center
2) Regional Medical Liaison Office, Department of Regional Cooperation Service,NHO Tottori Medical Center*Correspondence: sumiko@tottori-iryo.hosp.go.jp
Abstract
In line with the national project “Out-reach (Home-visit) Support for Individuals with Mental Disorders” initiated in2013, we integrated our Assertive Outreach (AOT) and Home-visit Psychiatric Nursing Teams, and newly organized theHome-visit Psychiatric Team with multiple professionals in 2016 to help such individuals lead a stable community life.
This study examined the current status of home-visit psychiatric nursing through our activities over the past 6 months. A
large number of service users maintained their daily lives using multiple services, indicating the necessity of enablingthem to live in their communities with a sense of security by further improving the quality of home-visit services, andproviding comprehensive approaches, integrating medicine and welfare services through collaboration with related
institutions, as a future role of home-visit psychiatric nursing. Tottori J. Clin. Res. 8(1), 38-44, 2016
Key Words: mental healthcare and welfare, assertive outreach teams (AOT), individuals with mental disorders,
home-visit psychiatric nursing	 

I. Introduction
Healthcare, medical, and welfare services forindividuals with mental disorders are being shiftedfrom inpatient treatment to community-based care.
The national project “Out-reach (Home-visit) Supportfor Individuals with Mental Disorders” was initiated in2013 based on the following idea: ‘In order to help
individuals with mental disorders maintain theircommunity lives, it is necessary to provide both
medical and daily life support for them. Collaboration
among healthcare, medical, and welfare staff members
as a multi-disciplinary team is effective tosimultaneously
providesuch
supportfrom
multi-faceted perspectives using their techniques
based on their diverse sense of values, while
respecting patients’ own intentions’. In 2015, ourhome-visit psychiatric nursing services were shiftedfrom the Outpatient Division to the Community-based
Medical Liaison Office. In line with this, we
integrated our Assertive Outreach (AOT) andHome-visit Psychiatric Nursing Teams, and newly
organized the Home-visit Psychiatric Team withmultiple professionals in 2016 to help individuals withmental disorders lead a stable community life. This

study examined the current status of home-visit
psychiatric nursing through our activities over the past
6 months.
II. Home-visit Psychiatric Team1) Team members
The Home-visit Psychiatric Team is made up ofpsychiatrists, nurses, psychiatric social workers,
occupational therapists, and psychotherapists.
During the study period, activities were actuallyperformed by 3 nurses and 2 psychiatric socialworkers.
2) Characteristics of service users
Our activities targeted individuals living in theeastern part of Tottori Prefecture and using
outpatient psychiatric services provided by ourfacility, based on their diagnoses, corresponding to
one of the following ICD-10 categories: organic
mental disorders (F0), dependence syndromes (F1),schizophrenia (F2), mood disorders (F3), neuroticdisorders (F4), or behavioural syndromes associatedwith physiological disturbances and/or physicalfactors (F5). In short, we deal with patients withdisorders F0 to F5.