[Quality assurance in psychiatry--is it possible?]. / Kvalitetssikring innen psykiatri--er det mulig?

The assessment of quality depends on the eye of the beholder, the patient, the clinician and his colleagues or society/third party payers. There are already several structures that regulate quality: training requirements, judicial control commissions and public health authorities, and in psychiatry also individual supervision and extensive clinical meetings. Most clinical parameters in psychiatry are measurable, but there remains the elusiveness of mental processes, which often defies quantification. Levels of symptoms and functioning, however, can be scored. Computerisation of macro-data often permits useful comparisons, as may consensus conferences and consultations with peers. The essence of quality monitoring is to find indicators that predict results and also reflect the most important situations and problems.

[Psychiatric work among refugees in Indochina]. / Psykiatrisk arbeid blant flyktninger i Indokina.

Refugee psychiatry deals with reactions related to escape and camp life, and to adjustment reactions to the host country. ICM (The Intergovernmental Committee for Migration) deals with refugees from the time they are accepted somewhere. This includes transportation, and medical screening to make sure that refugees are fit for travel, satisfy public health requirements etc. This work involves evaluations and efforts to improve health, such as keeping patients out of the psychotic stage and detoxifying opium users. Essentially, a refugee population has the same psychopathology as any other group, and the important thing is that they be understood in the wider frame of reference of their political and cultural background.