Beijing will study the living conditions of people with mental disabilities this year to see if more rehabilitation centers are needed.

"Demand for rehabilitation centers for people with mental disabilities seems to have been increasing during recent years and we will focus on the problem this year," said Wang Tong, vice-director of the rehabilitation department at the Beijing Disabled Person's Federation.

He said Beijing has about 34,000 people who are officially registered as having mental disabilities. "But the actual number is estimated to be around 60,000," he said.

The Beijing Disabled Person's Federation has built 360 Warm Homes - entertainment centers for disabled people - in every district and county. But the federation said not all people with mental disabilities are able to get to such centers.

"A person with a mental disability is part of a special group that is hard to supervise, especially after they leave hospital," Wang said.

As the city's only rehabilitation therapy center especially targeting people with mental disabilities, Jingxinyuan in Yuetan, Xicheng district, currently caters to 10 people who are receiving rehabilitation therapy.

"I love coming here, with our teachers and friends. We share our experiences and can also get medical help in the residential area. It's much better than staying in the hospital," said An Ying, a 37-year-old woman who visits Jingxinyuan every day.

An had worked as a teacher at a kindergarten before she was diagnosed as having schizophrenia. She has undergone three months of intensive treatment in hospital and is now taking medication every day.

Zhao Yiwen, the director of Jingxinyuan, said the facility offers several classes, including reading, singing and homemaking. Activities start at 9 am and continue to 11 am. They resume in the afternoon from 2 pm to 5 pm. Patients visit the center each day and are able to contact their teachers out of office hours if they need to.

The center specializes in providing professional medical guidance. Doctors and nurses from Huilongguan Hospital work at the center each week.

"Medical help is essential to the patients. Every Wednesday is doctor's day. Patients and their family members will come and we have face-to-face discussions, which are very effective in improving their mental condition," said Zhao Jing, a nurse who has worked at the center for about two months.

Zhao said such rehabilitation centers are the best way for people with mental disabilities to find their way back into mainstream society.

"Some patients stay in hospital for more than two decades, which only makes their social abilities worse," she said.

But she said rehabilitation centers can usually only accept fewer than 15 patients. Most of the thousands of people in need of mental rehabilitation have no choice but to stay at home.

"Before Xicheng district government built Jingxinyuan, we could only gather together with other patients' families and try to learn from each other about rehabilitation and help each other," said An Fengxiang, An Ying's father.

"Now, my daughter can enjoy great rehabilitation but many other patients are not as lucky as my girl."

(China Daily January 4, 2011)