scholarly journals A community mental health team for the elderly: a survey of GPs' views on the service

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Eastley ◽  
Mike Nowers
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Postal Survey ◽  
Community Mental Health Team ◽  
Mental Health Team ◽  
Health Team

This paper reports the results of a postal survey conducted to ascertain the views of general practitioners on the service provided by a newly established community mental health team for the elderly. The possible implications of GP fundholding for specialist provision of mental health services are discussed.

The importance of service level measures for mental health policy

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (S1) ◽  
pp. 229-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Jenkins ◽  
Gyles Glover
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Mission Statement ◽  
Mental Health Policy ◽  
Community Mental Health Team ◽  
Mental Health Team ◽  
Health Team

The policy of any organisation is a setting out of the purposes for which it exists - its mission statement. Governments spend money on mental health services and therefore need a coherent mission statement for the use and goals to which that money is put. Moreover, the consequences of mental illness pervade all aspects of a nation's existence. Therefore a mission statement is needed to tackle mental illness and its consequences, not only by developing and using specialist mental health services to best effect, but also by using other relevant organisations as appropriate.Mental health policy is formulated at all levels from the community mental health team to the national government and thence to the World Health Organisation and the United Nations. Indeed national and international mental health policies have generally been led by local innovative best clinical practice. At local level, the policy of a community mental health team will identify the types of patients to which it seeks to provide a service, the channels through which referrals will be accepted, the type and nature of assessment and decision making about consequent interventions which will be used and a range of quality standards within which it will seek to operate. It may set out a set of desired goals in terms of the improvement in the health status of clients and the degree of consumer satisfaction it seeks to achieve. Some adverse consequences may be set out. For example, it may seek to minimise readmissions to hospital within a specified period of time or the frequency of violent or self-destructive behaviour on behalf of its clients.

scholarly journals Improving methods of assessment in a community mental health team

1996 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Treloar
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Clinical Information ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Case Note ◽  
Dramatic Improvement ◽  
Community Mental Health Team ◽  
Mental Health Team ◽  
Health Team

Changing methods of recording psychiatric histories by a community mental health team for the elderly was associated with a dramatic improvement in the quality of recording of clinical Information and of communication with general practitioners. Comparison is made with published studies of case note audit with feedback. It is suggested that restructuring the way we work may be more effective than simple review of case notes with feedback.

scholarly journals To improve the communication between a community mental health team and its service users, their families and carers

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e000914
Author(s):  
Priyalakshmi Chowdhury ◽  
Amir Tari ◽  
Ola Hill ◽  
Amar Shah
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Service User ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Not Given ◽  
Community Mental Health Team ◽  
Mental Health Team ◽  
Specialist Registrar ◽  
Health Team

This article describes the application of quality improvement (QI) to solve a long-standing, ongoing problem where service users or their carers felt they were not given enough information regarding diagnosis and medication during clinic assessments in a community mental health setting. Service users and carers had shared feedback that some of the information documented on clinic letters was not accurate and the service users were not given the opportunity to discuss these letters with the clinician. The aim of this QI project was to improve the communication between the community mental health team (CMHT) and service users and their carers. Wardown CMHT volunteered to take on this project. The stakeholders involved were the team manager and deputy manager, the team consultant, the team specialist registrar, team administrative manager, two carers and one service user. The project had access to QI learning and support through East London NHS Foundation Trust’s QI programme. The team organised weekly meetings to brainstorm ideas, plan tests of change to review progress and to agree on the next course of action. The outcome was an increase in service user satisfaction from 59.9% to 78% over a period of 6 months, and a reduction in complaints to zero.

scholarly journals Birmingham community mental health team for the homeless

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Commander ◽  
Sue Odell ◽  
Sashi Sashidharan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
First Year ◽  
Community Mental Health Team ◽  
Mental Health Team ◽  
Health Team ◽  
Severely Mentally Ill ◽  
Homeless Mentally Ill ◽  
History Of

Mental health services have been criticised for failing to respond to the needs of the rising number of homeless mentally ill. We report on the first year of referrals to a community mental health team established to meet the needs of the severely mentally ill homeless in Birmingham. Most users had a psychotic disorder and a lengthy history of unstable housing, and experienced a range of other disadvantages. Although the team is successfully reaching its priority group, examination of other characteristics of users has highlighted a number of issues which should inform the future planning and development of the service.

scholarly journals Patient factors associated with the use of psychotropic polypharmacy in patients under the care of a community mental health team in the West of Ireland

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S106-S106
Author(s):  
Karthika Srikumar ◽  
Richard Walsh ◽  
Donnchadh Walsh ◽  
Sonn Patel ◽  
Sheila O'Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
Drug Regimen ◽  
Psychotropic Medications ◽  
Community Mental Health Team ◽  
Patient Factors ◽  
Mental Health Team ◽  
Health Team ◽  
Factors Associated

AimsPsychiatric polypharmacy refers to the prescription of two or more psychotropic medications to any one patient. This definition is purely quantitative and does not take into account whether such a prescription is detrimental, or unnecessary. In many cases, polypharmacy has been implemented in challenging illnesses, and some studies have shown that it can improve overall outcomes for certain patients. Evidence suggests that the prevalence of psychotropic polypharmacy is increasing, despite advances in psychosocial interventions. The aim of this study was to assess the current prevalence of polypharmacy among patients being treated by a community mental health team (CMHT), and the patient factors associated with its use.MethodWe performed a cross-sectional study of all patients registered with a CMHT in a mixed urban/rural area on a single date. Case records were examined to determine the most recently prescribed drug regimen for each patient. Clinical chart diagnoses were recorded and each one independently verified by the team consultant using ICD-10. A number other sociodemographic variables were recorded. Using Microsoft Excel, we analysed the medications prescribed as well as rates and levels of polypharmacy based on multiple different patient characteristics.ResultOf the 245 patients, the mean age was 56.3 and 51.2% (n = 126) were female. Psychotropic polypharmacy was seen in 62% (n = 152) of patients. 33% (n = 82) of patients were on two psychotropic medications, and of this subset, a combination of one antipsychotic and one antidepressant was the most common drug regimen, seen in 16.7% (n = 41) of all patients. Polypharmacy was more prevalent in females, with 68% (n = 85) being on two or more psychotropics, in comparison to 58% of male patients. In relation to age, patients aged between 51 to 65 years had the highest prevalence of polypharmacy, at a rate of 71% (n = 49). Among all primary diagnoses, polypharmacy was most common in patients with affective disorders, with 80% (n = 40) of this patient cohort on two or more medications. Second to this was psychotic disorders, with polypharmacy seen in 65% (n = 62) of this group.ConclusionWe found that psychotropic polypharmacy is highly prevalent in psychiatric patients being treated in a community setting. Certain demographics and patient factors, such as age, gender and psychiatric diagnosis influenced the rate of polypharmacy and certain drug combinations were more commonly prescribed than others.

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