Better together: a day hospital's move towards integrated care

Background/Aims

This article will present how an interdisciplinary team working within a day hospital in an acute NHS Foundation Trust embraced the opportunities of practice development to work ‘better together’ to meet the complex needs of individuals using the service.

Methods

By working closely with key stakeholders, the team developed an integrated service intersecting both primary and secondary care boundaries.

Results

The principles of practice development, including shared vision and focus, ensured changes made to the service were patient centred. These changes included a 360-degree assessment by professional staff with extended skills beyond their own professional role, and a virtual ward round, where individual patients are reviewed by an interdisciplinary team in the community with a focus on avoiding hospital admission, with quicker access to the day hospital. The team worked closely with their local university towards achieving practice development unit status, demonstrating a rigorous approach to the development of services provided by the day hospital.

Conclusions

The article highlights both the value of practice development and significantly the value of an interdisciplinary team working within a day hospital setting.

Involvement in Research and Development Projects Among Community-working Occupational Therapists in Norway

A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted (n = 561). Almost half of the participants took part in research and development projects. Being involved in research and development was associated with lower age, having further education, and higher levels of work experience. The current and prioritized research topics were reablement and assistive technology. The study implies that community-working occupational therapists are largely involved in research and development, or eager to become involved.

Clinical placements in mental health: a literature review

Gaining experience in clinical mental health settings is central to the education of health practitioners. To facilitate the ongoing development of knowledge and practice in this area, we performed a review of the literature on clinical placements in mental health settings. Searches in Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, Medline and PsycINFO databases returned 244 records, of which 36 met the selection criteria for this review. Five additional papers were obtained through scanning the reference lists of those papers included from the initial search. The evidence suggests that clinical placements may have multiple benefits (e.g. improving students' skills, knowledge, attitudes towards people with mental health issues and confidence, as well as reducing their fears and anxieties about working in mental health). The location and structure of placements may affect outcomes, with mental health placements in non-mental health settings appearing to have minimal impact on key outcomes. The availability of clinical placements in mental health settings varies considerably among education providers, with some students completing their training without undertaking such structured clinical experiences. Students have generally reported that their placements in mental health settings have been positive and valuable experiences, but have raised concerns about the amount of support they received from education providers and healthcare staff. Several strategies have been shown to enhance clinical placement experiences (e.g. providing students with adequate preparation in the classroom, implementing learning contracts and providing clinical supervision). Educators and healthcare staff need to work together for the betterment of student learning and the healthcare professions.