Is the implementation of assertive community treatment in a low-income country feasible? The experience of Tbilisi, Georgia

Walking with the illness and life: Experience of the community life of people previously under the services of an integrated community mental health service

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: There have been some studies on the experience and community life of mental health clients receiving integrated community mental health service (ICMHS). Evaluation of ICMHS suggests that the service could have positive clinical and social outcomes, but the results are inconclusive. WHAT DOES THE PAPER ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: Research studies have focused on clients and/or staff of the ICMHS, while in this study, the experiences and perspectives of family members are also explored. More comprehensive knowledge about the work for, and community life of, people previously under the services of ICMHS is added to the existing knowledge. This study found that with "timely support" and "family presence," people who had received the services of ICMHS continued to engage in more social activities ("expanding social networks"), had "better family relationships," were "letting go" of thinking too much and more able to relax, and had "better self-efficacy and self-caring" in the community. Professional contact after ICMHS through continuous conversations (e.g. home visits and follow-up calls) and social activities are essential for both clients and their families to carry on living with the illness. Timely support, family presence, support to family members in the community and better social networks are key experiences of ICMHS clients. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Although the ICMHS' resources are limited, better promotion is urgently needed for the public to realize the services and to support mental health clients. Mental health professionals may develop practice models through exploratory and confirmatory factors analyses of the themes identified from this study as the outcome measures. The cost-effectiveness of services and relapse rates over time should also be evaluated for future practice development. Further studies for practice on the difference that family support can make to the community life of former ICMHS clients are warranted. This may be achieved through research designs that compare people with, and without, family members. ABSTRACT: Introduction More comprehensive understanding, from the experiences and multiple perspectives of the clients, families and staff, about the community life of former clients of the integrated community mental health service (ICMHS) is scarce. Aim To explore the community life experiences of people after their discharge from the ICMHS. Method A qualitative approach with an interpretative phenomenological analysis was utilized for this study. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews of 37 participants, including people discharged from an Integrated Community Centre of Mental Wellness, their family members and staff members. Results Six themes emerged from the analysis: "timely support," "family presence," "better family relationships," "expanding social networks," "letting go" and "better self-efficacy and self-care," under the main theme of "walking with the illness and life." Discussion Over and after the ICHMS, with timely support and family presence, there was a positive trend in the experiences of clients in expanding social networks, having better family relationships, letting go of thinking too much and being more able to relax, and improving self-efficacy and self-caring. Implications for practice The study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the experiences of clients, family and staff about the community life of people post-ICMHS, providing insights and clearer directions for research and practice development.

Non-specialist health worker interventions for the care of mental, neurological and substance-abuse disorders in low- and middle-income countries

BACKGROUND

Many people with mental, neurological and substance-use disorders (MNS) do not receive health care. Non-specialist health workers (NSHWs) and other professionals with health roles (OPHRs) are a key strategy for closing the treatment gap.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effect of NSHWs and OPHRs delivering MNS interventions in primary and community health care in low- and middle-income countries.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (including the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group Specialised Register) (searched 21 June 2012); MEDLINE, OvidSP; MEDLINE In Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, OvidSP; EMBASE, OvidSP (searched 15 June 2012); CINAHL, EBSCOhost; PsycINFO, OvidSP (searched 18 and 19 June 2012); World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Library (searched 29 June 2012); LILACS; the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO); OpenGrey; the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (searched 8 and 9 August 2012); Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index (ISI Web of Knowledge) (searched 2 October 2012) and reference lists, without language or date restrictions. We contacted authors for additional studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Randomised and non-randomised controlled trials, controlled before-and-after studies and interrupted-time-series studies of NSHWs/OPHR-delivered interventions in primary/community health care in low- and middle-income countries, and intended to improve outcomes in people with MNS disorders and in their carers. We defined an NSHW as any professional health worker (e.g. doctors, nurses and social workers) or lay health worker without specialised training in MNS disorders. OPHRs included people outside the health sector (only teachers in this review).

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Review authors double screened, double data-extracted and assessed risk of bias using standard formats. We grouped studies with similar interventions together. Where feasible, we combined data to obtain an overall estimate of effect.

MAIN RESULTS

The 38 included studies were from seven low- and 15 middle-income countries. Twenty-two studies used lay health workers, and most addressed depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The review shows that the use of NSHWs, compared with usual healthcare services: 1. may increase the number of adults who recover from depression or anxiety, or both, two to six months after treatment (prevalence of depression: risk ratio (RR) 0.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.14 to 0.64; low-quality evidence); 2. may slightly reduce symptoms for mothers with perinatal depression (severity of depressive symptoms: standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.42, 95% CI -0.58 to -0.26; low-quality evidence); 3. may slightly reduce the symptoms of adults with PTSD (severity of PTSD symptoms: SMD -0.36, 95% CI -0.67 to -0.05; low-quality evidence); 4. probably slightly improves the symptoms of people with dementia (severity of behavioural symptoms: SMD -0.26, 95% CI -0.60 to 0.08; moderate-quality evidence); 5. probably improves/slightly improves the mental well-being, burden and distress of carers of people with dementia (carer burden: SMD -0.50, 95% CI -0.84 to -0.15; moderate-quality evidence); 6. may decrease the amount of alcohol consumed by people with alcohol-use disorders (drinks/drinking day in last 7 to 30 days: mean difference -1.68, 95% CI -2.79 to -0.57); low-quality evidence).It is uncertain whether lay health workers or teachers reduce PTSD symptoms among children. There were insufficient data to draw conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of using NSHWs or teachers, or about their impact on people with other MNS conditions. In addition, very few studies measured adverse effects of NSHW-led care - such effects could impact on the appropriateness and quality of care.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Overall, NSHWs and teachers have some promising benefits in improving people's outcomes for general and perinatal depression, PTSD and alcohol-use disorders, and patient- and carer-outcomes for dementia. However, this evidence is mostly low or very low quality, and for some issues no evidence is available. Therefore, we cannot make conclusions about which specific NSHW-led interventions are more effective.

Effects of an assertive community program in patients with severe mental disorders and impact on their families

AIMS

Assertive community treatment (ACT) is known to have a positive impact on the number and length of inpatient stays. However, recent studies have shown little or no effect of such programs in European settings. This paper aims to describe the impact of a newly implemented ACT program on patients and their families' burden. Predictive factors have also been examined.

METHOD

Fifty-five patients characterized by heavy use of psychiatric care, numerous hospitalizations, or failure to link with outpatient psychiatric care and their relatives were followed. Data were gathered on patients before and after follow up as well as on relatives' burden and costs. The number and domains of clinician interventions have been detailed.

RESULTS

The ACT program had a positive effect on symptoms, psychosocial adaptation and quality of life. Age was the most significant predictor of changes. Older patients, most of them suffering from delusional disorders, showed no improvement or even some impairment. Finally, the program appeared to have a marked effect on easing families' burden in domains such as assistance in daily life activities and costs.

CONCLUSIONS

ACT appears to be recommended for patients with poor outcome when treated in other settings. Early intervention seems to be justified as highlighted by younger age being the best predictor of positive changes. Families can be helped considerably, particularly those confronted with patients with persistent disturbing symptoms which do not, however, warrant hospitalization. Finally, the fact that patients with delusional disorder do not seem to improve warrants further research.

Crisis resolution/home treatment team workers' understandings of the concept of crisis

BACKGROUND

The crisis resolution/home treatment (CR/HT) model has brought significant reform of acute mental health care in the UK and beyond. The complex issue of conceptualising crisis is, however, overlooked in CR/HT literature. This study aimed to investigate how crisis is understood amongst those working in CR/HT teams.

METHOD

Framework analysis was applied to semi-structured interviews with 39 CR/HT workers representative of multidisciplinary mix and drawn from four different teams.

RESULTS

Whilst there was an acknowledgment of the concept's complex nature, there was consensus in: respondents' characterising of crisis; about three different presenting clinical patterns ('clusters') encountered in CR/HT work; and, the pattern of the crisis phenomenon over time.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest further development of the CR/HT model, including improving conceptual clarity (to benefit communication with referrers and judge clinical outcome), better timed intervention, and varying intervention for different clusters of crisis presentation.