The Community Mental Health Program in Calabarzon: Preliminary report from an internal review of an innovative service integration initiative for Schizophrenia

@#The Community Mental Health Program (CMHP) of the Center for Health Development Calabarzon is an initiative that aims to integrate mental health into primary care to facilitate person-centered and holistic services. At the core of CMHP is a referral pathway between health centers and tertiary-level mental health services for the diagnosis and continuing management of persons with mental health conditions, as well as the use of an innovative medication (specifically for schizophrenia). This commentary presents lessons learned from a one-year implementation of CMHP in four pilot sites in the provinces of Rizal and Laguna, which stakeholders in mental health may consider in the design of community-based mental health programs to further the mandate of the Mental Health Act.

Illness perception of patients with chronic pain: An internal validation of the subscales of the Filipino version of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) in a sample of adult patients with chronic pain presenting for pain management at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH)

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to determine the internal validity of the different subscales of the Filipino version of Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) among patients with chronic pain.METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving chronic pain outpatients at the Philippine General Hospital Pain Clinic and inpatients admitted between September 2016 to November 2016 was done. Data were obtained through self-administered Filipino version of the IPQ-R. Internal structure of the questionnaire was analyzed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients and confirmatory factor analysis.RESULTS: A total of 143 patients with chronic pain participated; mean age was 54.9 years. The consistencies of the Filipino version of IPQ-R dimensions for consequence, illness coherence, timeline (cyclical), and emotional representation were within conventional limits with small variations from the original English IPQ-R. However, timeline (acute/chronic), personal control,and treatment control scales failed to reach consistency. By excluding seven items nevertheless, there was noted improvement in the Cronbach's alpha of the corresponding scales.CONCLUSION:The inter-factor correlations of the Filipino version were relatively similar to those reported in the original English IPQ-R. The modified questionnaire showed good validity and could be a valuable instrument in the assessment of illness perceptions in the Filipino health care setting.