FERM 2024 | Message from the Manager of the Câmpulung Moldovenesc Psychiatric Hospital, Cristina-Luana ZBRANCA

„HEALTH” Panel 

Module VI – Emergency Care for Children in the Cross-Border Region, 18th Edition of the Regional Economic Forum Moldova, Vatra Dornei, 2024

SPEAKER – Cristina-Luana ZBRANCA, Manager of the Câmpulung Moldovenesc Psychiatric Hospital

TEME: „Collaboration between psychiatric hospitals and post-treatment centers in addiction treatment”

Within the „Health Panel,” module „Emergency Care for Children in the Cross-Border Region”, Cristina-Luana Zbranca, primary psychiatrist and manager of the Câmpulung Moldovenesc Psychiatric Hospital, addressed the topics: „Collaboration Between Psychiatric Hospitals and Post-Treatment Centers in Addiction Treatment” and „The Activity of the Mobile Team of the Câmpulung Moldovenesc Psychiatric Hospital.”

Awareness issues of the phenomenon

„Patients in our unit who were beneficiaries of the services of the Residential Center ‘Izvorul Tămăduirii’ Bacău have recorded a significantly more favorable evolution in follow-up than those who only follow strictly medical recovery programs”, declared psychiatrist Cristina-Luana Zbranca. However, the number of these patients is low, standing at under 10% of the total patients seeking addiction treatment in their unit.

The manager of the Câmpulung Moldovenesc Psychiatric Hospital emphasized that this statistic reflects a broader phenomenon of incorrect awareness of addictive disorders among the population. Many consider addictions to be conditions one is born with and which are beyond personal control. This misconception contributes to a low number of patients benefiting from post-treatment recovery programs.

The need for a new educational paradigm

„We must encourage individual responsibility in the face of this scourge: we need to refocus on addiction as a self-induced condition: the phenomenon of dependence does NOT ‘happen to us,’ but we ‘make it happen’; We control addiction, not the other way around”, emphasized Cristina-Luana Zbranca. The doctor highlighted the importance of awareness campaigns to educate the public about the differences between social and recreational substance use and harmful consumption with potential addictive effects.

The activity of the mobile team of the Câmpulung Moldovenesc Psychiatric Hospital

During the same intervention, Dr. Zbranca described the activity of the mobile team of the Câmpulung Moldovenesc Psychiatric Hospital. The mobile team, composed of a social worker, nurse, psychologist, and priest, conducts its activities with great dedication.

The need for reform

„The activity of the mobile team is limited by administrative aspects: the health card usage regime, the impossibility of reimbursing travel expenses and medication costs with personal contribution for patients”, explained psychiatrist Cristina Zbranca. Most patients benefiting from the services of the mobile team are extremely financially limited, further complicating the team’s mission.

These administrative difficulties are not unique to the Câmpulung Moldovenesc Psychiatric Hospital but are encountered by any mobile medical assistance service in the country. Dr. Zbranca emphasized the need for administrative reform to allow greater flexibility and support for mobile assistance teams so that they can operate without financial and logistical constraints.

Dr. Cristina-Luana Zbranca’s intervention highlighted both the necessity for closer collaboration between psychiatric hospitals and post-treatment centers to improve addiction treatment and the administrative challenges faced by mobile assistance teams. Proper public education and administrative reforms are essential to advance in the fight against addictions and to provide real and effective support to patients.