The Health and the Human Rights-Related Quality of Life of People with Severe Mental Illness in Taiwan

Abstract

Hui-Ching Wu is an associate professor at the Department of Social Work, National Taiwan University, with a Ph.D. degree in social work practice track from Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW). His specialty is mental health and his research interests are in psychiatric rehabilitation, stigma, human rights, involuntary treatment, trauma and criminal psychology. The current working studies are 'Assessing the impact of severe mental illness on adult well siblings a serial model of social support' and 'Developing culturally sensitive psychiatric service intervention in Taiwan: Examining multiple perspectives on attribution, stigma, and treatment utilisation'. Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine human rights as predictors of a satisfactory psychiatric rehabilitation outcome for 207 individuals with severe mental illness in northern and southern Taiwan. One three-part questionnaire was administered to these individuals, which included a set of questions to capture socio-demographic infor- mation, items from the Health and Human Rights of Patients with Severe Mental Illness Scale and items from the Health-Related Quality of Life Scale. T-test, bivariate and sim- ultaneous multiple regression were employed to analyse the collected data. This study found a significantly positive association between the self-awareness of human rights and satisfaction with mental and physical health-related quality of life (QoL). The per- ception of having their rights to interaction with family/friends and work respected sig- nificantly influenced the self-perceived satisfactory QoL of people with severe mental illness. The key to self-awareness and the promotion of rights is to foster a positive culture of healing created through the development of collaborative relationships between people with severe mental illness and health care providers. Further research may be needed to investigate the reason that these patients' rights continue to be deva- lued in Taiwan.