Clinical Outcomes and Cost Implications of a Community Psychosocial Rehabilitation Service for Severe and Persistent Mental Illness in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Introduction: Individuals with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) present distinct challenges in mental healthcare due to the chronic and complex nature of their conditions. This study was conducted to assess the clinical efficacy and potential cost-effectiveness of a multidisciplinary community-based psychosocial rehabilitation team serving individuals with SPMI in Nova Scotia, Canada. Method: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a community-based psychosocial rehabilitation program on individuals with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) in Nova Scotia, Canada. This research focused on clinical outcomes and potential cost savings following a one-year intervention, offering critical insights into the benefits of community-based care for this population. A cohort of 137 clients accepted into the community rehabilitation service (Connections Dartmouth) between September 2016 and September 2020 was analyzed. Each participant received one year of community rehabilitation intervention. Using data from the Canadian Medical Service Insurance (MSI) billing system, this research compared the use of inpatient services and Emergency Department visits in the year prior to and the year following the intervention. The findings provide valuable evidence on the role of community rehabilitation in reducing healthcare utilization for individuals with SPMI. Results: The results demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in mean admission rates and length of inpatient admissions in the year following rehabilitation compared to the pre-rehabilitation year. A substantial percentage of patients experienced no inpatient admissions (88% vs. 60%) or Emergency Department visits (82% vs. 67%) in the post-rehabilitation year, compared to the pre-rehabilitation year. There was a significant reduction in inpatient days by 90%, translating into substantial cost savings. The findings highlight the potential economic benefits of community rehabilitation for people with SPMI. Conclusions: This uncontrolled study suggests that community rehabilitation is associated with positive clinical outcomes for individuals with SPMI in terms of reduced inpatient service use and associated costs. Further research, including controlled studies and cost-effectiveness studies, into the community psychosocial rehabilitation services in the Canadian setting is needed.

The Healing Elements of an Eclectic Life Skills Programme: Clients' Perspectives.

Introduction: The article reports the healing elements of an eclectic life skills programme (ELSP) from the perspective of group members. An ELSP utilising open groups was developed to manage clients with mixed diagnostic profiles and different stages of recovery simultaneously. The aim was to explore the healing elements of an ELSP. Methods: Maximum variation purposive sampling was used to select six participants for the phenomenological inquiry. Data collection is comprised of observations, semistructured interviews, and reflective journals. Data analysis comprised an inductive thematic analysis. Consumer Involvement: Participants all attended groups offered within the ELSP. They participated in two semistructured interviews: the first interview in the week following admission and the second just before discharge. In addition, they documented their experiences in reflective journals for the duration of their participation. Findings: The analogy of a kaleidoscope portrayed the four themes; three pertained to structural dynamics, namely, programme mirror, facilitator mirror, and mirror of other group members. The fourth theme, namely, the magical pattern, pertained to personal sense-making by individual group members. Conclusions: The dynamic interplay of healing factors, captured in the themes, facilitated healing. Self-reflection was integral to the creation of a bespoke, facilitated self-learning process with direct application in group members' own lives.

Exploring the Quality-of-Care Dynamics of Inpatient Psychosocial Rehabilitation in Community-Based Mental Health Services: A Comprehensive Analysis.

This study aims to investigate the intricacies of inpatient psychosocial rehabilitation by examining a community-based mental health inpatient rehabilitation service in Nova Scotia, Canada. It provides a comparative analysis with national standards using the Quality Indicator for Rehabilitative Care (QuIRC) and offers recommendations for improvement. The study will link findings to research on enhancing specific domains, focusing on strategies to address identified challenges and leverage opportunities to meet or exceed national benchmarks in promoting recovery and social inclusion. This study utilizes the QuIRC as a primary assessment tool to evaluate the quality of care in psychiatric and psychosocial rehabilitation care unit. The QuIRC assessment findings reveal crucial insights across several domains, including the living and therapeutic environment, treatments and interventions, self-management and autonomy, social interface, human rights, and recovery-based practices. The study identifies strengths and areas for improvement by comparing unit scores with national averages in Canada, offering a detailed examination of the quality of care provided in a community-based psychosocial rehabilitation service. Using the QuIRC identifies strengths and areas for improvement of current care provided, opening opportunities for positive change and improved quality of care. By highlighting the critical indicators of the quality of care and best practices derived from the QuIRC assessment, this study provides practical insights that can be directly applied by practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders, fostering an understanding of essential elements that support effective mental health rehabilitation within community settings.

[The integration of peer support in psychiatry, or how to better support patients]. / L'intégration de la pair-aidance en psychiatrie, ou comment mieux accompagner le patient.

Peer support plays an essential role in patient recovery by encouraging a supportive approach based on experiential knowledge. It helps to create individualised care centred on life projects and individual strengths. Within the teams, the knowledge of the peer health mediator and the carers is shared. This approach helps to improve care by drawing on the depth of people's experiences and feelings, and their resilience in the face of illness.

Access to Psychiatric and Education Services During Incarceration in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals with psychiatric disorders are incarcerated at disproportionately high rates and often have low educational attainment. Access to psychiatric and education services within prisons has been described as inadequate, but recent data are lacking. The authors sought to assess the association of psychiatric disorders with both educational attainment before incarceration and access to psychiatric and education services during incarceration. METHODS: Data were from the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, a national survey of adults incarcerated in U.S. state and federal prisons (N=24,848). Multinomial regression was used to identify associations of educational attainment before incarceration with psychiatric disorders and sociodemographic factors. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess associations of psychiatric disorders with access to psychiatric and education services during incarceration and with sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: Before incarceration, 57.3% of survey respondents had less than a high school diploma. Across four education and psychiatric services, only 8.4%-44.8% of respondents reported participating in these services during incarceration, despite 57.3% reporting a psychiatric or learning disorder. Psychiatric disorders were associated with lower educational attainment before incarceration and lower access to education services during incarceration. Psychiatric disorders were associated with higher odds of access to psychiatric services during incarceration. Men had lower educational attainment before incarceration and lower odds of accessing psychiatric and education services during incarceration. CONCLUSIONS: Incarcerated people had a high need for psychiatric and education services. Individuals with psychiatric disorders had lower odds of participating in education services during incarceration, highlighting the need for policies and services that increase participation.

A recovery-oriented day hospital in psychiatry: A springboard for reintegration.

Psychiatric disorders are common and can cause psychological disabilities. While the creation of day hospitals (DHs) was intended to direct psychiatric care towards community settings, they may have paradoxically contributed to a form of chronicity. Furthermore, the heterogeneity and lack of evaluation of care within DHs prevent the availability needed to collect objective data on users outcomes. In this article, we aim to describe and measure the effects of a transformation of practice within a sector-based DH initially focused on traditional institutional psychiatry towards a rehabilitation model of care which offers different therapeutic tools, structured in three stages, and whose main objective is professional integration. This retrospective mirror study compares, before and after the transformation of this DH, several indicators including the rate of professional integration and its maintenance after two years. We found that this psychosocial rehabilitation model for care allowed a very clear increase in the professional integration rate and its maintenance at two years while reducing the length of stay to around 18 months. These promising results therefore highlight the pivotal role of DHs as "stepping stones" in addressing psychological disabilities towards recovery.

Experience of psychosocial rehabilitation; perspectives of depressed adolescents.

Given the multifaceted character of depression and its related symptoms, an adolescent living with it is at increased risk for a wide range of adverse events. This research aimed to understand and characterize the psychosocial rehabilitation experiences of depressed teenage participants in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. A cross-sectional semi-structured interview design influenced by an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) technique was adopted. We employed a nonprobability, purposeful sampling approach to recruit twenty-one adolescents (6 males, 15 females) diagnosed with depression from the community after one month of discharge from admission and undergoing psychosocial rehabilitation. Using separate interviews, we gathered and analyzed data using interpretive phenomenological analysis to produce themes and sub-themes. These were presented with the participants' direct quotations. We discovered that the perspectives of adolescents' psychosocial rehabilitation experience include hopelessness and suicide ideation, coping difficulties, undesirable attitudes from support networks, challenges related to school, and isolation. Participants suggested appropriate therapeutic environments, encouraging support systems, and the media's role in preventing and treating depression among young people as rehabilitation approaches that could assist adolescents to remain lucid for longer intervals. These results shed light on the tragic realities faced by depressed adolescents. There is an urgent need to put well-defined structures in place to aid their rehabilitation and develop coping strategies for a better life.

What are the available online resources targeting psychosocial burden among stroke survivors and their informal caregivers: A scoping review.

Background: After discharge home, stroke survivors and their informal caregivers face a significant lack of support and information which accentuates their psychosocial burden. Online resources might provide this support and address psychosocial needs, but existing online stroke programmes mainly target functional rehabilitation. We aimed to map the existing literature on online resources that have been evaluated in stroke rehabilitation and aimed at reducing psychosocial impact in stroke survivors and informal caregivers. Methods: MEDLINE was searched (2010-2024) to identify studies investigating online resources targeting psychosocial health. Studies were selected and extracted independently by two reviewers. We described the content, use, and psychosocial impact of these interventions using a narrative approach. Results: Eleven studies were included in the review, reporting 10 online resources (two studies relating to the same resource). Online resources were heterogeneous: eight information/resources websites, one mobile app, and one forum. Five online resources were dedicated to stroke survivors, four to stroke survivors and their informal caregivers, and one to informal caregivers. Two randomized controlled trials reported a significant decrease in depressive symptoms associated with the use of online resources. Stroke survivors and informal caregivers find online resources useful and acceptable to address their psychosocial needs. Conclusions: Few online stroke resources have been designed and evaluated to support post-stroke psychosocial rehabilitation. Further larger-scale research needs to study the impact of these interventions on psychosocial recovery over time.

Application of cognitive remediation in the world: new experiences from two schizophrenia rehabilitation centers in Togo and Benin.

PURPOSE: People with schizophrenia in Sub-Saharan Africa often live in very difficult conditions, suffer important social isolation and usually do not receive any kind of treatment. In this context, some non-governmental initiatives have come to light, providing accommodation, food, primary healthcare, medications and, in some cases, education and rehabilitation. The aims of this study were to assess feasibility, effects, and acceptability of a Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) intervention in the particular context of psychiatric rehabilitation in Togo and Benin. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia accessing the "Saint Camille" association rehabilitation centers in Togo and Benin during the enrollment period were allocated consecutively with a 1:1 proportion to receive a manualized CRT intervention (46 one-hour sessions over 14 weeks) or continuing Treatment As Usual (TAU). The assessment included validated measures of cognitive performance and real-world functioning and was performed at baseline and at the conclusion of treatment. RESULTS: All subjects that were invited into the study agreed to participate and completed the intervention, for a total of 36 participants. CRT produced greater improvements than TAU in processing speed, working memory, verbal memory, cognitive flexibility, and executive functions measures, with moderate to large effect sizes, in particular in processing speed and working memory domains. CONCLUSIONS: CRT represents a feasible and effective psychosocial intervention that can be implemented even in contexts with very limited resources, and could represent an important instrument to promote the rehabilitation process of people living with schizophrenia in low-income countries.

Contribution of socio-demographic and clinical characteristics to predict initial referrals to psychosocial interventions in patients with serious mental illness.

AIMS: Psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) is at the core of psychiatric recovery. There is a paucity of evidence regarding how the needs and characteristics of patients guide clinical decisions to refer to PSR interventions. Here, we used explainable machine learning methods to determine how socio-demographic and clinical characteristics contribute to initial referrals to PSR interventions in patients with serious mental illness. METHODS: Data were extracted from the French network of rehabilitation centres, REHABase, collected between years 2016 and 2022 and analysed between February and September 2022. Participants presented with serious mental illnesses, including schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar disorders, autism spectrum disorders, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and personality disorders. Information from 37 socio-demographic and clinical variables was extracted at baseline and used as potential predictors. Several machine learning models were tested to predict initial referrals to four PSR interventions: cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), cognitive remediation (CR), psychoeducation (PE) and vocational training (VT). Explanatory power of predictors was determined using the artificial intelligence-based SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) method from the best performing algorithm. RESULTS: Data from a total of 1146 patients were included (mean age, 33.2 years [range, 16-72 years]; 366 [39.2%] women). A random forest algorithm demonstrated the best predictive performance, with a moderate or average predictive accuracy [micro-averaged area under the receiver operating curve from 'external' cross-validation: 0.672]. SHAP dependence plots demonstrated insightful associations between socio-demographic and clinical predictors and referrals to PSR programmes. For instance, patients with psychotic disorders were more likely to be referred to PE and CR, while those with non-psychotic disorders were more likely to be referred to CBT and VT. Likewise, patients with social dysfunctions and lack of educational attainment were more likely to be referred to CR and VT, while those with better functioning and education were more likely to be referred to CBT and PE. CONCLUSIONS: A combination of socio-demographic and clinical features was not sufficient to accurately predict initial referrals to four PSR programmes among a French network of rehabilitation centres. Referrals to PSR interventions may also involve service- and clinician-level factors. Considering socio-demographic and clinical predictors revealed disparities in referrals with respect to diagnoses, current clinical and psychological issues, functioning and education.

[Socio-demographic and clinical-psychological characteristics of patients with residual schizophrenia and directions of their psychosocial rehabilitation]. / Sotsial'no-demograficheskie i kliniko-psikhologicheskie osobennosti patsientov s ostatochnoi shizofreniei i napravleniya ikh psikhosotsial'noi reabilitatsii.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the socio-demographic, clinical and psychological characteristics of patients with residual schizophrenia, to identify variants of residual states and to determine measures for psychosocial rehabilitation on this basis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: At the time of investigation, 91 patients with the diagnosis of residual schizophrenia (F20.5xx according to ICD-10) were under dispensary supervision in the psychoneurological dispensary No. 18 of Moscow. A study of the medical records of all these patients was carried out. Twenty-three patients consented to face-to-face examination. The Positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS), the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), the Brief Assessment of Cognitive Functions in Schizophrenia (BACS) and the author's questionnaire concerning the opinion of psychiatrists on the clinical and social characteristics of patients with residual schizophrenia were used. Mathematical and statistical methods implemented in the STATISTICA 12.1 software and the Excel office suite were used. The method of stochastic nesting of neighbors («T-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding¼, t-SNE) implemented in the Python program to cluster cases and identify variants of residual states was used. RESULTS: The patients with residual schizophrenia belonged to the cohort of elderly patients (mean age 66.3±13.28 years) with a predominance of females (62.22%). At the time of examination, the course of the schizophrenic process had a negative impact on the social life and professional activities of patients, which led to disability of 74.72% patients and 91.55% of them had disability due to a mental disorder. The analysis showed that patients with residual schizophrenia was a heterogeneous group with a predominant presence of negative symptoms in the clinical picture (the composite score on the PANSS negative subscale was17.79±6.67). Three variants of residual states were identified using clustering by the t-SNE method of individual PANSS indicators. Deficiency symptoms with features of pseudoorganic syndrome prevailed in the first variant. In the second variant, patients had mild positive symptoms, mainly in the form of paranoia and residual delirium, as well as a psychopathic syndrome. The third, small group, included patients with the most favorable variant of remission, having a fairly high level of social adaptation, mainly with personality changes. CONCLUSION: The obtained data were correlated with the results of a psychological examination. It was revealed that patients with residual schizophrenia were not sufficiently included in the process of psychosocial treatment and rehabilitation. Taking into account the identified variants of residual states, the directions of possible psychosocial interventions were determined.

A Contemporary Review of the Clubhouse Model of Psychosocial Rehabilitation: Past, Present, and Emerging Directions.

Since the 1940s, the Clubhouse model of psychosocial rehabilitation has evolved towards a comprehensive practice of social theory and intervention. Despite the model's cost effectiveness and observational evidence of its efficacy, empirical research remains lacking. The current narrative review examines studies from recent years (2015-2021), not to assess study rigor, but to identify trends in research aims, findings, and methodology, as well as specify future research directions. A narrative review was conducted using PRISMA guidelines. Using the search term "Clubhouse," 194 articles were identified in online databases. 38 met criteria for inclusion. Most studies were qualitative (60.5%) and few utilized experimental or quasi-experimental designs (7.9%). Narrative synthesis revealed research aims and outcome variables falling into six key areas: social integration and connectedness, quality of life (QOL), recovery outcomes, relational dynamics, policy, and virtual adaptations of the model. Findings indicate that recent Clubhouse-related research trends have primarily involved studies of social connectedness, QOL, recovery, relationships, and policy, as well as studies examining the value of the virtual Clubhouse in maintaining well-being. However, heterogeneity of methodologies and measures present a critical limitation to assessing results across studies. Options for increasing experimental methodologies in this area are reviewed. Recommended future directions involve moving towards a biopsychosocial approach to clarifying the mechanisms through which the model promotes recovery-aims that may yield implications beyond the realm of serious mental illness.

Job Satisfaction of Nurses Versus Other Mental Health Professionals Working in Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services.

INTRODUCTION: The objectives of Psychiatric Reform were, on the one hand, psychiatric hospitals' shutting down and, on the other hand, the creation of Psychosocial Rehabilitation facilities, in order to provide appropriate care to individuals suffering from mental health problems in community. Therefore, mental health professionals' job satisfaction constitutes one of the fundamental factors leading either to success or failure of each reforming effort. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the level of professional satisfaction of nurses working in Psychosocial Rehabilitation facilities compared to other mental health professionals. METHODOLOGY: Three hundred and sixty-seven mental health professionals, working in the field of psychosocial rehabilitation completed (a) a sociodemographic questionnaire, and (b) Spectοr's Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS). RESULTS: Moderate levels of total professional satisfaction were observed. Low satisfaction rates were recorded in "Pay," "Promotion," and "Fringe Benefits" subscale. High satisfaction rates were recorded in "Supervision," "Cooperation between colleagues," and "Nature of work," while moderate satisfaction rates were reported in "Contingent rewards," "Operating procedures," and "Communication" within facilities. It is noteworthy that nurses were statistically significant less satisfied with the "Contingent rewards" (p = 0.028), the "Nature of work" (p = 0.001), and the "Communication" (p = 0.019), while they were statistically significant more satisfied with "Supervision" (p = 0.007) compared to the other specialties of mental health professionals. CONCLUSIONS: The results can be used by those with administrative and scientific responsibilities in the field of mental health in order to recognize professionals' difficulties and solve their problems in psychosocial rehabilitation facilities. These interventions could improve their levels of job satisfaction, in order to achieve optimal therapeutic results for mentally ill and improve the quality of the services provided.

Indicadores qualitativos de processo e resultado no acompanhamento terapêutico / Qualitative indicators of process and outcome in terapeutic accompaniment / Indicadores cualitativos de procesos y resultados del acompañamiento terapéutico

Este estudo é voltado à construção de indicadores qualitativos de processo e resultado para a prática do Acompanhamento Terapêutico (AT). O artigo inicia apresentando a conceitualização e os fundamentos da prática do Acompanhamento Terapêutico e seu papel na clínica e nas políticas públicas em saúde mental. Revisa a literatura acerca dos métodos de avaliação de processo e resultado de psicoterapias e das metodologias de construção de indicadores qualitativos em saúde. Por fim, discute a possibilidade de formular indicadores qualitativos para a avaliação da prática do Acompanhamento Terapêutico com base no estado da arte do conhecimento sobre este dispositivo e propõe alguns indicadores clinicamente e teoricamente relevantes.

This study is aimed at the construction of qualitative indicators of process and outcome for the practice of Therapeutic Accompaniment (TA). the article begins by presenting the conceptualization and the foundations of the practice of Therapeutic Accompaniment and its role in the clinic and public policies in mental health. It reviews the literature about the methods of evaluating the process and results of psychotherapies and the methodologies for building qualitative health indicators. Finally, it discusses the possibility of formulating qualitative indicators for evaluating the practice of Therapeutic Accompaniment based on the state of the art of knowledge about this device and proposes some clinically and theoretically relevant indicators. (AU)

Este estudio tiene como objetivo la construcción de indicadores cualitativos de procesos y resultados para la práctica del compañamiento Terapéutico (AT). El artículo comienza presentando la conceptualización y los fundamentos de la práctica del Acompañamiento Terapéutico y su rol en la clínica y las políticas públicas en salud mental. Revisa la literatura sobre los métodos de evaluación del proceso y los resultados de las psicoterapias y las metodologías para la construcción de indicadores cualitativos de salud. Finalmente, se discute la posibilidad de formular indicadores cualitativos para evaluar la práctica del Acompañamiento Terapéutico a partir del estado del conocimiento sobre este dispositivo y propone algunos indicadores clínica y teóricamente relevantes. (AU)

Comprehensive rehabilitation and job reintegration of people with severe mental illness in a Latin American country: REINTEGRA study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Despite the increasing use of comprehensive rehabilitation models for people with severe mental illness (SMI), there are still limitations to their implementation and replicability in a consensual way, particularly in Latin American countries. The REINTEGRA program aims to be a standardized model of comprehensive rehabilitation focused on psychosocial and cognitive improvement through a set of interventions on different areas of people's functionality, with the goal of reintegrating people with SMI into the labour market. In this paper we summarize the protocol for its subsequent implementation in a mental health institution in Mexico. METHOD: The protocol is based on a quasi-experimental, prospective longitudinal study, with a pragmatic or naturalistic control group. It will be carried out in three phases. Phase 1 consists of a series of interventions focused on psychosocial improvement; Phase 2 focuses on cognitive and behavioral improvement treatments; and Phase 3 targets psychosocial recovery through rehabilitation and reintegration into the labour market. The overall procedure will be monitored with standarized evaluations at different stages of the program. DISCUSSION: This study presents a model of integral rehabilitation of people with SMI. At the moment, one of the obstacles to overcome is the organization and procedural control of the different actors needed for its implementation (nurses, psychologists, doctors, companies, institutions, etc.). REINTEGRA will be the first comprehensive rehabilitation model that includes systematized procedures for job reinsertion for people with SMI in Mexico, which aims to be a standardized tool of easy adaptation and the replicability for other mental health centers and institutions.

Peer Support Services in Behavioral Health Facilities: Secondary Analysis From Two National Surveys.

OBJECTIVE: Peer support providers are part of the behavioral health workforce. Research indicates that peer support helps care recipients achieve recovery and engage with behavioral health services. This article investigated how many U.S. behavioral health facilities offer peer support services and compared the frequencies of peer support services in facilities providing mental health and substance use services. METHODS: The authors conducted a secondary analysis of facilities in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Mental Health Services Survey (N=11,582) and the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N=13,585), including descriptive and comparative analyses on reported mental health and substance use treatment services in the 50 U.S. states in 2017. RESULTS: The findings revealed state-to-state variation in the number and availability of mental health and substance use service facilities and in facilities that reported providing peer support services. Facilities providing substance use treatment services offered peer support services at more than twice the rate (56.6%) found in mental health facilities (24.7%). The authors also identified program characteristics associated with the inclusion of peer support services in behavioral health. Provision of peer support services was more frequently reported by public facilities than by for-profit and nonprofit facilities. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioral health facilities that serve individuals with serious mental illness and co-occurring substance use and mental health conditions reported offering peer support at a higher rate than did other facilities. Inconsistent definitions of peer support in the two surveys limited the comparability of the findings between the two reports.

Long-term mental health care in Portugal: A portrait of the first years of activity.

INTRODUCTION: In Portugal, a reform to implement Long-term mental health care (LTMHC) started in 2017 allowing patients with severe mental illness receiving psychosocial rehabilitation to regain their autonomy and be reintegrated into their communities. AIM: To describe the first steps of the Portuguese LTMHC implementation and to assess the relationship between the LTMHC's demand (referrals) and supply (vacancies and occupancy). METHODS: We conducted a national retrospective observational study to analyse the LTMHC referrals, vacancies and occupancy between mid-2017 (LTMHC establishment) and December 2022. We described and analysed the associated indicators through time and geography, as well as performed a simultaneous regression model to evaluate the relationship between supply and demand. RESULTS: There were 1,192 referrals to the LTMHC, of which 99 (8.3%) were made for childhood and adolescence structures. The maximum support residence (RAMa, 'Residência de apoio máximo'), designed for patients with higher disabilities, had the highest number of referrals. Additionally, since the opening of vacancies in different institutions, residential structures became quickly saturated. On the other hand, domiciliary services were those with the lowest occupancy. Our estimates support that the vacancies (supply) are induced by the referrals (demand), and referrals are also related to the location of LTMHC facilities. CONCLUSION: LTMHC is still in the initial stage of development in Portugal, and it is expected to receive financial support through the Recovery and Resilience Programme. According to the occupancy rates and referrals made, residential structures seem to be a priority, being also important to explore the partial use of domiciliary services. The geographical distribution of vacancies can also be a concern, considering the important proximity to the community in LTMHC.

Psychiatric rehabilitation patterns in Italy: Results from the Italian Society of Psychosocial Rehabilitation (SIRP) survey.

Introduction: Psychiatric rehabilitation can be considered a bidirectional technique, designed to allow patients to achieve their personal target, focusing on the individuals' strengths and challenges related to these targets and also on the community organizations in which they will live them out. Unfortunately, psychiatric rehabilitation is too often not considered a first line treatment. Moreover, rehabilitation has been confused with a generic and rough practice, consisting of extemporary actions and aimless entertainments designed to fill "the time passing". Methods: The aim of this study was to increase the knowledge and awareness about the state of the art of different systems of management and funding of psychosocial rehabilitation in the Italian "real-world" rehabilitative settings, using a specifically developed questionnaire. Results: The data obtained are positive for some aspects of the rehabilitation interventions, in particular for the use of validated tools for the evaluation and revision of projects and for the trend to work on a team, even though the scarcity of evidence-based rehabilitation interventions applied in Italian psychiatric services is less encouraging. Conclusion: This survey presents, at least partially, the "real-world" of rehabilitation in Italy so that we can lay the foundations for the definition of an updated, validated and shared network of what is implemented in the context of psychiatric rehabilitation.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Self-Directed Care for Medically Uninsured Adults With Serious Mental Illness.

OBJECTIVE: Self-directed care (SDC) is a treatment model in which recipients self-manage funds designated for provision of services. The model is designed to cost no more than traditional services while achieving superior participant outcomes. The authors examined the model's impact on outcomes, service costs, and user satisfaction among medically uninsured, low-income individuals with serious mental illness. METHODS: Adults in the public mental health system (N=42) were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive SDC or services as usual and were assessed at baseline and 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Outcomes included perceived competence for mental health self-management, met and unmet needs, degree of autonomy support, self-perceived recovery, and employment. Mixed-effects random regression analysis tested for differences in longitudinal changes in outcomes between the two study conditions. Differences in service costs were analyzed with negative binomial regression models. RESULTS: Compared with individuals in the control condition, SDC participants reported greater improvement in perceived competence, met and unmet needs, autonomy support, recovery from symptom domination, and employment. No differences were found between the two groups in total per-person service costs or costs for individual services. The most frequent nontraditional purchases were for medical, dental, and vision services (33%) and health and wellness supports (33%). Satisfaction with SDC services was high. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health SDC services achieved participant outcomes superior to treatment as usual, with equivalent service use and costs and high user satisfaction. This model may be well suited to the needs of uninsured adults with low income who receive public behavioral health care.