ORIGINAL PAPER Patient-Centered Care in Affective, Non-Affective, and Schizoaffective Groups: Patients’ Opinions and Attitudes Raymond Tempier • Shelanne L. Hepp • C. Randy Duncan • Betty Rohr • Krystal Hachey • Karen Mosier Received: 29 October 2008 / Accepted: 28 April 2010 / Published online: 18 May 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract An outcome evaluation was conducted to obtain psychiatric inpatients’ perspectives on acute care mental health treatment and services. The applicability of diagnostic categories based on affective, non-affective, and schizoaf- fective disorder were considered in the predictability of responses to treatment regimens and the related services provided in an inpatient psychiatric unit. A multidimensional approach was used to survey patients, which included the DAI-30, the BMQ, the SERVQUAL, and the CSQ-8. Overall, findings indicate that inpatient satisfaction could be improved with tailoring treatment to suit their respective symptoms. Furthermore, this exploratory study demonstrates some pre- liminary support for the inclusion of patients with a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder as a separate group toward improving acute mental health care while hospitalized. Keywords Schizoaffective disorder Á Affective disorder Á Non-affective disorder Á Acute psychiatric care Á Medication Á Satisfaction with services Introduction There is some evidence that co-morbid conditions (multi- ple competing demands) affect the quality of care in primary health care settings (Ani et al. 2009). Additionally, some studies are starting to examine the effects of co- morbid conditions on the quality of mental health care (Goldberg et al. 2007). The ability to classify psychiatric patients by diagnosis is not straightforward and is made more complex by individuals diagnosed with several co-morbid conditions. For example, a diagnosis of chronic schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder with psychotic symptoms, suicidal ideation, and alcohol and drug abuse suggests an overlap between affective disorders and non- affective disorders. As such, a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder is used to address the situation where the psy- chotic symptoms of schizophrenia are present along with the mood disturbances of depression or bipolar disorder (American Psychiatric Association 2000). Whereas the cause of schizoaffective disorder is unknown, the diagnosis is currently being used to classify psychiatric patients. The interesting aspect of a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder is that it implies a biological pre- disposition to schizophrenia that varies along a continuum of severity. It is this reference to relative severity of the schizoaffective diagnosis compared to depression and/or a mood disorder and satisfying the criteria for a full-blown diagnosis of schizophrenia (hallucinations, delusions, or thought process disorder) that is of interest in determining if these patients constitute a separate classification. The present study seeks to determine if the classification of psychiatric inpatients by severity of their disorder(s) affects their ability to contribute to their quality of care. Patient-Centered Care Involving the patient as a stakeholder in mental health service evaluations does not only seem logical, but man- datory. Patient-centered mental health service is key to the R. Tempier Á S. L. Hepp Á C. R. Duncan Á B. Rohr Á K. Mosier Department of Psychiatry, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada K. Hachey Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada R. Tempier (&) Royal University Hospital, University of Saskatchewan, 103 Hospital Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 0W8, Canada e-mail: raymond.tempier@usask.ca 123 Community Ment Health J (2010) 46:452–460 DOI 10.1007/s10597-010-9316-2