Health ministry promotes family co-operation model of care for schizophrenia

China's health ministry plans to promote therapies for schizophrenia patients based on closer interactions between family members and doctors, an official said on Thursday.
The therapeutic alliance formed between doctors and a patient's family will help patients receive continuous treatment and prevent relapses, Yan Jun, head of the mental health division under the disease control department of the Ministry of Health, said at an event here.
The ministry will select several psychiatric hospitals to run trials of the therapeutic patterns, he said.
Currently, 41 percent of schizophrenia patients in China relapse within a year after being released from hospital, said Yang Fude, head of Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, a leading psychiatric hospital and one of the hospitals set to participate in the trial.
Xinhua