Incidence and Prevalence: Schizophrenia - Essay Example

A schizophrenia patient is also not able to think with clarity, they have emotional instability problems and exhibit abnormal behaviours in social set ups. While incidence refers to rate of occurrence of a phenomenon, prevalence is the extent to which such an occurrence is spread. This paper seeks to discuss incidence and prevalence of Schizophrenia. The paper explores its demographics, its associated programs, and agencies at local, provincial, national and international levels. Schizophrenia in Vancouver Vancouver is a locality within the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Even though limited information exists on the incidence and prevalence of the disorders in Vancouver’s locality, a research conducted by Golden, Jones, and Waraich identifies constancy in incidence of the disease across different regions in Vancouver. The regions however portrayed different prevalence rates. In the coastal shore of Vancouver, Vancouver region registered between 2500 cases to 2600 cases in the considered three years while Garibaldi reported an average of 500 cases across the years and Richmond registered an average of 300.

The same trend of consistency in cases per region across the years was observed in Vancouver Island in which Capital registered an averaging figure of about 1150 and Central North Island averaged at close to 1000 cases per year. The disorder’s prevalence rate was highest in the sub region of Vancouver at a rate of more than 0.6 percent in each of the considered three years. Based on the data, Schizophrenia’s prevalence across Vancouver’s locality is uneven. This is with respect to both number of reported cases and prevalence rates.

The highest reported cases per region are identified in Vancouver with more than 2500 reported cases per year followed by Capital. The prevalence rates are also high in the two regions. This observation identifies locality as an underlying risk factor of the disorder (Golden, Jones and Waraich, 2003). A number of agencies that offer care programs to Schizophrenia victims exist in Vancouver. Examples are the “Vancouver Costal Health Foundations” and the “Squamish Health Care Foundation Society” (Vancouver, 2011, p. 1). The Coastal health foundation’s programs are geared towards raising funds that can be applied in supporting service delivery to the disorder’s victims while the Squamish Health Care Foundation’s main program is service delivery to the affected individuals within its geographical scope (Vancouver, 2011).

The “Schizophrenia Rehabilitation Day Program” is another organization whose program is directed towards Schizophrenia care services. It offers hope to the disorder’s patients by developing an environment in which the patients can adopt a positive living. Its program includes services such as therapist care, supervised medication, social gatherings, and assessment on patients conditions (Psychiatry, 2012). Schizophrenia in British Columbia Statistics with respect to British Columbia province also indicates an almost steady incidence of the disorder.

Based on the report by Golden, et al that investigated the disorder’s demographics in the province over a period of three years, a rate of about 11900 cases, 12100 cases and 11500 cases were reported consecutively. The relatively small variation implies a consistency in occurrence of the disease in the province. The data also expressed a constant prevalence rate of 0. 45 percent with a deviation to a