Educational needs assessment for psychiatry residents to prevent suicide: a qualitative approach

Suicide is a commonly encountered and stressful event in professional life of any psychiatrist. Suicide risk assessment is a major gateway to patient treatment and management. It is a core competency requirement in training of psychiatry. The present study designed to assess educational needs for suicide prevention in residents of psychiatry in two medical schools in Iran, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences [IUMS] and Shahid Beheshti Medical University [SBUMS] inTehran. This was a qualitative triangulation study, conducted in two steps. The first step was based on a phenomenological approach and the second was based on focus groups. The studied population was the psychiatric residents of IUMS and SBUMS. Purposive sampling was implemented until saturation. Interviews were performed. Colaizzi method was used to analyze the data. In the second step, participants attended a session, in which all final codes of the first step were discussed, and regarding the views, educational priorities and needs were listed. A total of 2047 codes, extracted from 31 interviews, analyzed through Colaizzi method, were categorized in three groups: Educational, facilities and processes, human resources. According to defects of current educational program, we suggest regular reevaluations and revisions of clinical training programs according to current needs

[Assessment of educational needs on suicide prevention in residents of psychiatry at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences: a qualitative study]

"Need assessment" is considered as the process of evaluation of needs in a specific domain, which is fundamental for quality improvement of health education and research. As suicide is one the most important problems in public health, it would be expected that all psychiatric residents should have adequate knowledge and skills to play their different roles in the field. This study was designed to assess educational needs of psychiatric residents at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences with the aim of determining the priorities and needs about suicide. This qualitative phenomenological study was based on triangulation method. Sixteen psychiatric residents at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences were recruited using purposive sampling method. Data were gathered by interview and group debates and analyzed based on Colaizzi's seven-step model. The findings of this study encoded 1015 codes, distributed in three main domains: "educational needs" [to recognize causes and risk factors, psychological education, and training practical skills against suicide], "needs in process and facilities" and "human resources needs". This study revealed multiple educational needs in the field of suicide. On the other hand, the current educational program could not fulfill the needs of psychiatric residents with regard to the contemporary realities of suicide. This finding mandates the revision of current educational programs

[ experience of couple-family relationship in female psychiatric inpatients: a qualitative study]

The goal of the present study was to describe the experience of female psychiatric inpatients, of couple-family relationships. The method of phenomenology was used in this qualitative study. The subjects comprised female patients hospitalized in Noor Psychiatric Hospital in Isfahan. Fourteen subjects were selected using purpose-oriented sampling, up to reaching data saturation. Data were collected using an unstructured interview and Colaizzi's seven stage process was used for data analysis. The findings were classified in 847 conceptual codes. Subsequent to the fourth level coding, the data were divided into two main groups: [1] causes of the illness and their aggravating factors [behavior of spouse, behavior of spouse's family, behavior of subject, miscellaneous factors and childhood and adolescence period], and [2] subjects' reactions [to the behavior of spouse, toward continuing to live and to sexual relation with spouse]. Women experience many negative events in their marital life, with undesired effects on mental health. Taking these issues into consideration and providing families and couples with related education could have significant effects in improving mental health among women