Does Anyone Care about Names? How Attendees at Substance Misuse Services Like to Be Addressed by Health Professionals

Objective: To determine the preference of substance misusers for the terms ‘patient’, ‘client’ and ‘service user’ in the context of their contact with health professionals, if they consider substance misuse problems to exist appropriately under the category of mental health problems and if they cons...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European addiction research 2004-01, Vol.10 (2), p.75-79
Main Authors: Keaney, Francis, Strang, John, Martinez-Raga, Jose, Spektor, David, Manning, Victoria, Kelleher, Michael, Jones, Charlotte Wilson, Wanagaratne, Shamil, Sabater, Ana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Analysis of Variance
Chi-Square Distribution
Female
Health Personnel - psychology
Health Personnel - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Names
Patient Satisfaction - statistics & numerical data
Patients - psychology
Patients - statistics & numerical data
Research Report
Socioeconomic Factors
Substance Abuse Treatment Centers - methods
Substance Abuse Treatment Centers - statistics & numerical data
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
Substance-Related Disorders - therapy
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:Objective: To determine the preference of substance misusers for the terms ‘patient’, ‘client’ and ‘service user’ in the context of their contact with health professionals, if they consider substance misuse problems to exist appropriately under the category of mental health problems and if they consider themselves to have mental health problems. Methods: A self-completion questionnaire was administered to 150 National Health Service and private in- and outpatients with alcohol, drug and smoking problems. Results: The majority (54%) preferred the term ‘patient’, felt substance misuse problems was a category of mental health problems (59%), even though the majority (62%) did not consider themselves to have a mental health problem. Broadly similar preferences were found for those attending drug services and alcohol services whilst those attending the smoking cessation service were less likely to consider it an appropriate location or description. Discussion: The majority of substance misusers preferred to be called ‘patients’. The location of substance misuse services within mental health provision was widely tolerated.
ISSN:1022-6877
1421-9891
DOI:10.1159/000076117