Tag: Secondary Care

The Same or Different? Precision vs Personalised Psychiatry

Published on by Andrew Marshall1 Comment

Research Paper Title

‘Precision’ or ‘personalised’ psychiatry: different terms – same content?

Background

Due to the increased lifetime prevalence and personal, social, and economic burden of mental disorders, psychiatry is in need of a significant change in several aspects of its clinical and research approaches.

Over the last few decades, the development of personalised/precision medicine in psychiatry focusing on tailored therapies that fit each patient’s unique individual, physiological, and genetic profile has not achieved the same results as those obtained in other branches, such as oncology.

The long-awaited revolution has not yet surfaced.

There are various explanations for this including imprecise diagnostic criteria, incomplete understanding of the molecular pathology involved, absence of available clinical tools and, finally, the characteristics of the patient.

Since then, the co-existence of the two terms has sparked a great deal of discussion around the definition and differentiation between the two types of psychiatry, as they often seem similar or even superimposable.

Generally, the two terminologies are used indiscriminately, alternatively, and/or separately, within the same scientific works.

In this paper, an overview is provided on the overlap between the application and meaning of the terms ‘precision psychiatry’ and ‘personalised psychiatry’.

Reference

Perna, G., Cuniberti, F. Dacco, S., Grassi, M. & Caldirola, D. (2020) ‘Precision’ or ‘personalized’ psychiatry: different terms – same content? Fortschritte der Neurologie-Psychiatre. doi: 10.1055/a-1211-2722. Online ahead of print.

Timely Referrals from Primary Care to Specialty Mental Health, and Back

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Research Paper Title

Provider perspectives on a clinical demonstration project to transition patients with stable mental health conditions to primary care.

Background

Research to improve access to mental healthcare often focuses on increasing timely referrals from primary care (PC) to specialty mental health (SMH).

However, timely and appropriate transitions back to PC are indispensable for increasing access to SMH for new patients.

Methods

The researchers developed and implemented a formalised process to identify patients eligible for transition from SMH to PC.

The FLOW intervention was piloted at a Veterans Health Administration community-based outpatient clinic. Qualitatively examine provider perspectives regarding patient transitions at initiation and termination of the FLOW project.

Sixteen mental health providers and three PC staff completed qualitative interviews about the benefits and drawbacks of FLOW at initiation. Ten mental health providers and one PC staff completed interviews at 12-month follow-up. Primary benefits anticipated at initiation were that FLOW would increase access to SMH, provide acknowledgement of veterans’ recovery, and differentiate between higher and lower intensity mental health services.

Results

SMH providers reported additional perceived benefits at 12-month follow-up, including:

  • Decreased stress over their caseloads; and
  • Increased ability to deliver efficient, effective treatment.

Anticipated drawbacks at initiation were that veterans would get inconsistent care, PC could not offer the same level of care as SMH, and veterans might view transition as a rejection by their SMH provider.

Perceived drawbacks were similar at 12-month follow-up, but there was less frequent endorsement.

Conclusions

Findings highlight need for sustained and frequent provider education regarding:

  1. The appropriate characteristics of individuals eligible for transition; and
  2. Established procedures to ensure care coordination during and after transition.

Reference

Fletcher, T.L., Johnson, A.L., Kim, B., Yusuf, Z., Benzer, J. & Smith, T. (2019) Provider perspectives on a clinical demonstration project to transition patients with stable mental health conditions to primary care. Translational Behavioral Medicine. pii: ibz172. doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibz172. [Epub ahead of print].