[On the roller coaster: An abridged history of mental health planning in Spain. SESPAS Report 2020]

Assessment of care provision integration in a community-based mental health system: balanced care model implementation in Andalusia (Spain)

BACKGROUND

Andalusia is the second largest region in Spain, and it has developed a comprehensive mental health (MH) plan that encourages the consolidation of the balanced care model. However, its geographical and socioeconomic disparity is a great challenge for a community-based MH system. Both the assessment of the implementation of the MH plan and the development of new tools to support decision-making can be considered critical.

OBJECTIVES

The present study aims (i) to assess how the integration of different types of MH care may influence system performance and (ii) to check the performance evolution of the integration process geographically regarding the small MH areas of Andalusia.

METHODS

The performance of the Andalusian MH system was assessed by combining Monte Carlo simulation, fuzzy inference and data envelopment analysis. The relative technical efficiency was the main performance indicator.

RESULTS

A correct integration of appropriate types of MH care, according to population needs, increases the performance of the Andalusian MH system both from global and regional perspectives. The spatial representation (based on small MH areas) of the results highlights how the performance depends on specific geographical characteristics. By analyzing the identified spatial clusters, defined by different management patterns depending on user and socioeconomic characteristics, benchmark areas and areas for improvement can be studied to design evidence-informed policies and interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

A global analysis of MH system performance was carried out, including both the successive integration of different types of care and its spatial evolution. Although an appropriate integration of different types of MH care has a positive effect on the Andalusian MH system, this process has different profiles depending on specific geographically based user and socioeconomic characteristics. The balanced care model can be considered the paradigm for assessing the performance of a large and populated territory such as Andalusia, which has a community-based MH system. This methodological approach (performance assessment and spatial analysis) may be used as a guide for developing future evidence-informed policies and managerial interventions.

Impact of the workforce allocation on the technical performance of mental health services: the collective case of Helsinki-Uusimaa (Finland)

BACKGROUND

Long-term mental health (MH) policies in Finland aimed at investing in community care and promoting reforms have led to a reduction in the number of psychiatric hospital beds. However, most resources are still allocated to hospital and community residential services due to various social, economic and political factors. Despite previous research focussing on the number and cost of these services, no study has evaluated the emerging patterns of use, their technical performance and the relationship with the workforce structure.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to observe the patterns of use and their technical performance (efficiency) of the main types of care of MH services in the Helsinki-Uusimaa region (Finland), and to analyse the potential relationship between technical performance and the corresponding workforce structure.

METHODS

The sample included acute hospital residential care, non-hospital residential care and outpatient care services. The analysis was conducted using regression analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, fuzzy inference and data envelopment analysis.

RESULTS

The analysis showed a statistically significant linear relationship between the number of service users and the length of stay, number of beds in non-hospital residential care and number of contacts in outpatient care services. The three service types displayed a similar pattern of technical performance, with high relative technical efficiency on average and a low probability of being efficient. The most efficient acute hospital and outpatient care services integrated multidisciplinary teams, while psychiatrists and nurses characterized non-hospital residential care.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicated that the number of resources and utilization variables were linearly related to the number of users and that the relative technical efficiency of the services was similar across all types. This suggests homogenous MH management with small variations based on workforce allocation. Therefore, the distribution of workforce capacity should be considered in the development of effective policies and interventions in the southern Finnish MH system.

Evaluation of primary care responsiveness by people with mental illness in Spain

Background

The health system responsiveness is a concept developed by the World Health Organization that measures patients’ expectations for the non-medical care they receive. The aim of this study is to assess primary care responsiveness as seen by people with mental illness and to analyse the factors associated with poor responsiveness.

Methods

Cross-sectional descriptive study on 426 people with mental illness who had attended primary care consultations at least once in the previous 12 months. The responsiveness of the health system was determined through the short questionnaire “Multi-country Survey Study on Health and Health Systems Responsiveness”. Differences in responsiveness by sociodemographic characteristics were compared through the Chi-squared test. Logistic regression identified the factors associated with poor responsiveness.

Results

Overall responsiveness was measured as good by 77.4% of patients, being this probability higher in the domains: dignity, confidentiality, and communication. The most valued domains by people with mental illness were prompt attention (42.4%), dignity (30.1%), and communication (17%). Only prompt attention scored high importance and poor responsiveness. In patients with an income lower than 900 euros per month and low level of studies, the probability of poor confidentiality responsiveness was multiplied by 3 and 2.7 respectively.

Conclusions

People with mental illness perceive good responsiveness from primary care in terms of dignity, confidentiality, and communication. Prompt attention, as the domain of greatest importance and worst valuation, should be prioritised through the implementation of organisational measures in health centres to reduce waiting times, especially in urban areas.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-022-07516-2.