Development of measurement of mental health literacy and integrative community diagnosis by GIS

对秋田县H镇的2287名社区居民进行了问卷调查。调查内容包括：被试的基本特征、抑郁自评量表、包括家庭支持在内的社会支持、感受到的心理压力、压力应对行为、主观健康评估、心理健康素养、获得医疗保健的机会、功能衰退状态、对死亡和自杀的态度以及对心理健康促进的需求。通过对一例典型抑郁症患者的知识询问和应对行为问卷调查，建立了心理健康素养的问卷测评方法。与老一辈人相比，年轻一代对抑郁症有正确认识的比例更高。观察到60岁以上人群的心理健康素养有所下降。在此基础上，给出了H镇心理健康指标的地理分布情况。H镇在抑郁得分、心理健康素养和心理应激方面存在地域差异。社区精神卫生需求的可视化有助于制定社区精神卫生政策规划。以秋田县野四罗市为例，进行了地理信息系统在社区精神卫生政策中的应用。本研究建立了社区环境下心理健康素养测量的标准方法，建立了有效的社区综合诊断系统。

A questionnaire study was conducted for 2,287 community residents living in H town, Akita prefecture. The following items were asked; basic characteristics of subjects, self-rated depression scale, social support including familial support, perceived psychological stress, stress-coping behavior, subjective health assessment, mental health literacy, access to health care, state of functional decline, attitude toward death and suicide, and demand for mental health promotion. The method to measure mental health literacy by questionnaire was developed that was composed of queries of knowledge and coping behavior for a case of typical depression. Percentage of those who had a correct knowledge on depression was higher in the younger generation as compared to the older generation. A decrease in mental health literacy was observed for persons older than 60 years. Thus, mental health education is more necessary in the aged population.Based on the above-mentioned study, a geographical distributions of mental health indicators in H town were presented. There were geographical differences in depression scores, mental health literacy and psychological stress in H town. The visualization of mental health needs in a community facilitates to make a plan of mental health policies in a community.An another application of geographical information system in community mental health policies was made regarding risk assessment of suicide in Noshiro city, Akita prefecture. By using this GIS-assisted risk assessment of suicide, scientific determination of determination of priority of community intervention was possible.In conclusion, a standard method of measurement of mental health literacy in community setting was developed in this study, and an effective integrative community diagnosis system was established.