Perinatal Mental Healthcare Needs Among Women at a Community Hospital.

OBJECTIVE: Mental health problems affect up to 20% of women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. This study aimed to describe the mental health services and resources accessed by women with perinatal mental health problems (PMH) and to identify their unmet mental health care needs and preferences for support, as well as the barriers to accessing this support. METHODS: Participants were 18 years of age or older and spoke English or French. Consent was obtained 24 hours after delivery (T0) to screen for symptoms of depression and anxiety at 2 weeks postpartum (T1) using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). Women with a positive screen (EPDS ≥10 or GAD-7 ≥10) were sent informational resources and were followed-up by telephone at 4 months postpartum (T2) to determine their use of these and other resources, their unmet needs, and their preferences for other resources or services. RESULTS: Seventy-three out of 344 participants (21.2%) screened positive, of whom 57 (78%) completed the T2 interview. Of those interviewed, 28% had used the informational resources provided by the study. Although 25% had consulted a health professional for mental health care, 37% had unmet mental health care needs. Preferences for additional support included web-based resources (30%), telephone support (28%), and booklets (25%). Lack of time (38%) and lack of childcare (23%) were the main barriers to seeking help. CONCLUSIONS: Web- and telephone-based approaches have the potential to address the most common barriers to access support for women experiencing perinatal mental health problems.

[Confusion Assessment Method. Validation of a French-language version]. / Confusion Assessment Method. Validation d'une version française.

There is no systematic or standardized approach to assessing higher mental functions in hospitalized elderly patients, despite the constant presence of nursing staff. The Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) is the only valid and reliable clinical tool for detecting symptoms of delirium easily and quickly, even by health professionals with no specialized training in psychiatry. The CAM has been translated into eight languages, but no validated French-language version has been published as yet. It was in response to this need that the researchers took the first steps in validating a French-language version of the CAM and the diagnostic algorithm, and enhanced the description in French of symptoms of delirium and the criteria of the diagnostic algorithm. The validation process was based on the first two steps in the transcultural validation method for psychological questionnaires suggested by Vallerand. The availability of a French-language version of this instrument will lead to greater professional autonomy and help to simplify the recognition of symptoms of delirium and ensure that the appropriate action is taken sooner.