Harry Minas

Bio: Harry Minas is an academic researcher from University of Melbourne. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mental health & Health care. The author has an hindex of 31, co-authored 122 publications receiving 3683 citations. Previous affiliations of Harry Minas include St. Vincent's Health System & Centre for Mental Health.

The Future of Cultural Psychiatry: An International Perspective:

Abstract: Cultural psychiatry is concerned with understanding the impact ofsocial and cultural difference on mental illness and its treatment. As such, it is both a field ofbasic science re­ search and a major concern for service delivery. Culture has the same ubiquity and transparency as water except at the junction of cultures, where the world is refracted and re­ flected. The confrontation and intermixing of different cul­ tural worlds that has always been part of human experience through travel and economic trade has reached a new level of intensity that makes culture increasingly important for psy­ chiatry. In this article we survey the landscape of cultural psychiatry to see where we have arrived and where we may be going. In the first section, we briefly sketch the history ofcultural psy­ chiatry to identify its several strands. We then consider the place ofthe concept ofculture in psychiatry. The third section considers models of mental health care for multicultural so­ cieties, an issue of fundamental importance in the everyday practice ofpsychiatry in most parts of the world. Finally, we consider the impact ofglobalization onpsychiatric theory and practice. The generation of psychiatric knowledge and the evolution of practice reflect cultural values. A cultural cri­ tique has much to offer the clinician: it can shed light on the

Cultural attribution of mental health suffering in Chinese societies: the views of Chinese patients with mental illness and their caregivers.

Abstract: Aims and objectives. This study examined the cultural attribution of distress in the Chinese, the special role of the family in distress and the specific emotional reactions within distress dictated by culture. Methods. This phenomenological study illustrated the narrative representation of the experiences of suffering by the Chinese patients with mental illness. Twenty-eight Chinese–Australian patients and their caregivers were interviewed together in their homes. They were invited to talk about the stories of the patients’ experiences of suffering from mental illness. The interviews were recorded and transcribed to be further analysed according to the principles of narrative analysis. Results. The results of case narration indicated that (1) because of the influence of Confucian ideals, interpersonal harmony was the key element of maintaining the Chinese patients’ mental health, (2) Chinese patients’ failure to fulfil cultural expectations of appropriate behaviours as family members contributed to disturbance of interpersonal relationships and (3) Chinese patients’ failure to fulfil their familial obligations contributes to their diminished self-worth and increased sense of guilt and shame. Conclusion. The findings of the present study suggest that Chinese people's well-being is significantly determined by a harmonious relationship with others in the social and cultural context. Psychotherapy emphasizing an individual's growth and autonomy may ignore the importance of maintaining interpersonal harmony in Chinese culture. Relevance to clinical practice. The results of this study contribute to the essential knowledge about culturally sensitive nursing practices. An understanding of patient suffering that is shaped by traditional cultural values helps nurses communicate empathy in a culturally sensitive manner to facilitate the therapeutic relationship and clinical outcomes.

Pasung: Physical restraint and confinement of the mentally ill in the community

Abstract: Background Physical restraint and confinement (pasung) by families of people with mental illness is known to occur in many parts of the world but has attracted limited investigation. This preliminary observational study was carried out on Samosir Island in Sumatra, Indonesia, to investigate the nature of such restraint and confinement, the clinical characteristics of people restrained, and the reasons given by families and communities for applying such restraint.

Research Methods in Health. Investigating health and health services

Abstract: This new edition of Ann Bowling's well-known and highly respected text has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect key methodological developments in health research. It is a comprehensive, easy to read, guide to the range of methods used to study and evaluate health and health services. It describes the concepts and methods used by the main disciplines involved in health research, including: demography, epidemiology, health economics, psychology and sociology.The research methods described cover the assessment of health needs, morbidity and mortality trends and rates, costing health services, sampling for survey research, cross-sectional and longitudinal survey design, experimental methods and techniques of group assignment, questionnaire design, interviewing techniques, coding and analysis of quantitative data, methods and analysis of qualitative observational studies, and types of unstructured interviewing. With new material on topics such as cluster randomization, utility analyses, patients' preferences, and perception of risk, the text is aimed at students and researchers of health and health services. It has also been designed for health professionals and policy makers who have responsibility for applying research findings in practice, and who need to know how to judge the value of that research.