Authors (including presenting author) :
Chun TS(1), Leung CPR(1), Leong SL(1), Lee WM(1), Tang YDY(1), Liu CYA(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Castle Peak Hospital
Keyword 1: :
Forensic Community Psychiatric Nursing
Keyword 2: :
Mentally Disordered Offenders
Keyword 3: :
Forensic Mental Health
Keyword 4: :
Community Care
Introduction :
Forensic community psychiatric nursing (FCPN) plays a critical role in supporting mentally disordered offenders (MDOs) to transit from institutional settings to community living. Most existing studies among forensic psychiatric populations concentrate in inpatient or custodial settings, but research in community settings remains limited.
Objectives :
This study provides a 15-year retrospective analysis of FCPN’s service users in Hong Kong, examining the demographic, clinical, and service utilization patterns while stratifying findings by violent and non-violent offending profiles.
Methodology :
A retrospective review was conducted examining 2,638 service users of FCPN from January 2009 to December 2023. Data were collected on age, gender, psychiatric diagnoses, offense profiles, living districts, special care system classification, service length, and service termination outcomes. Service users were stratified into violent crime (n=1,353) and non-violent crime (n=1,285) groups based on their index offenses.
Result & Outcome :
The majority of FCPN’s service users were middle-aged males (78.5% male; mean age 43.5±13.7 years). Schizophrenia spectrum disorders was the most common psychiatric diagnosis (52.6%), followed by substance-related disorders (30.5%). Common assault (39.5%) and theft-related offenses (41.0%) were the most frequent index offenses in violent and non-violent groups respectively. Service users being labelled as special care and intensive care cases were more prevalent in the violent crime group, demonstrating the effective identification of high-risk individuals by Hong Kong’s Special Care System. 65.9% of FCPN services were terminated upon successful follow-up in psychiatric outpatient clinics. The second most common reason for termination was imprisonment (23.8%). This study provides valuable insights into characteristics of FCPN’s service users in Hong Kong. The data could provide guidance in future development of the unique territory-wide FCPN service.
