Patient experiences in psychiatric departments for the elderly (PEPDE): development, properties, and use of a brief questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: Measuring patient experiences at psychiatric inpatient departments for the elderly need measurements adapted to the situation and challenges of the age group. We did not find any such instrument. The aim of this study then was to develop and document the measurement properties of a reliable and valid questionnaire about experiences of patients without severe neurocognitive disturbances at psychiatric inpatient departments for the elderly, which can be used in quality improvement and research. METHODS: Aiming for good content validity, we developed a questionnaire with 37 questions based on a review of the literature on important aspects for the elderly in psychiatric inpatient departments and on feedback from elderly patients from other questionnaires developed for use in psychiatric departments for adults. Using this first questionnaire, we collected data from 151 patients in psychiatric departments for the elderly in nine health trusts. We then revised the questionnaire based on comments from patients and interviewers on the questions, and we decided which questions we would keep and which we needed to adjust to improve clarity. This resulted in a final questionnaire of 20 questions. We analyzed the internal structure (factors and their internal consistency) of this final questionnaire based on data collected from a new sample of 96 patients. To test the construct validity of the questionnaire, a sample of 26 service user representatives, clinicians and researchers were asked to sort the questions based on identified factors. RESULTS: The final questionnaire consisted of 20 questions giving a valid and reliable measurement tool with four subscales: Patient-centered Interaction, Outcome, Care and Safety, and Information on Rights. Very few unanswered questions indicate that the questionnaire is feasible, as patients seemed to understand the questions and the response scales well. It is desirable that structural validity is confirmed with a larger sample. CONCLUSION: Our final questionnaire "Patient Experiences in Psychiatric Departments for the Elderly" (PEPDE) has adequate measurement properties and seems to be well understood. It can be used as a questionnaire or an interview for quality improvement and research.

Shared decision making and associated factors among patients with psychotic disorders: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Shared decision making is a process where patients and clinicians collaborate to make treatment choices based on the patients' preferences and best available evidence. The implementation of shared decision making remains limited for patients with psychotic disorders despite being recommended at policy level, being advocated as ethical right and wanted by the patient's. A barrier to implementation that is often mentioned is reduced decision-making capacity among patients. The challenges of implementing shared decision making highlights a need for more knowledge on shared decision making for these patients. Moreover, the association between patient-related characteristics and shared decision making is unclear, and further research have been suggested. More knowledge of factors associated with involvement in shared decision making can enhance understanding and help to empower patients in the decision-making process. The current study examined the extent of reported shared decision making among patients with a psychotic disorder in mental health care and factors associated with shared decision making. METHODS: This study included 305 participants with a psychotic disorder from 39 clinical inpatient and outpatient sites across Norway. Shared decision making was assessed using the CollaboRATE survey. A linear mixed model was estimated to assess characteristics associated with shared decision making scores. RESULTS: The CollaboRATE mean score was 6.3 (ranging from 0 to 9), the top score was 14.1% and increased global satisfaction with services was significantly associated with a higher level of shared decision making (regression coefficient 0.27, 95% confidence interval (0.23; 0.32), p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The low top score shows that few patients felt that they received the highest possible quality of shared decision making, indicating that many patients found room for improvement. This suggests that services for patients with psychotic disorders should be designed to give them a greater role in decision making. Shared decision making might play a key role in mental health care, ensuring that patients with psychotic disorders are satisfied with the services provided. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03271242, date of registration: 5 Sept. 2017.

Norwegian health personnel's contacts and referrals for children of ill parents: an exploratory cross-sectional multi-centre study.

BACKGROUND: In 2010, changes were made to the Norwegian Health Personnel Act. This led to all health personnel being obliged to support the patients' children and families. The aims of this study were to investigate whether health personnel contacted or referred the patients' children to family/friends or public services. We also investigated if there were factors in the family or the services that increased or decreased the degree of contacts and referrals. In addition the patients were asked whether the law had been a help or even a burden. This study was part of a larger multi-site study of children of ill parents conducted in five health trusts in Norway. METHOD: We used cross-sectional data from 518 patients and 278 health personnel. The informants completed a questionnaire addressing the law. Data were analyzed by factor analysis and logistic regression. RESULTS: The health personnel contacted/referred children to different services, but not to the degree desired by their parents. Only a few contacted family/friends, or the school and/or the public health nurse, those representing the helpers who live closest to the child, and thus well situated to participate in help and preventive efforts. The service most often referred to was the child welfare service. CONCLUSION: The results indicate a change in contacts/referrals for children from their parents' health personnel but also reveal remaining needs for support/help for these children. Health personnel should strive to write more referrals and take more contacts than the current study suggests, to secure adequate support for children of ill parents in Norway, as intended in The Health Personnel Act.

Social Factors and Recovery: A Longitudinal Study of Patients with Psychosis in Mental Health Services.

To study the prospective associations between social factors and recovery in patients with psychotic disorders in mental health specialist services. In this prospective observational cohort study, analyzes were based on baseline- and follow-up data after 18 months from 108 patients with psychosis. Personal recovery was assessed by the Questionnaire about the Process of Recovery (QPR). Linear regression models were used to test the prospective associations between social predictor variables and QPR. An association was found between experienced quality of interpersonal relationships at baseline and change in QPR score over the next 18 months. Stratified analyzes showed that the effect of experienced quality of interpersonal relationships on recovery was due to an association among persons living with others. Patients' experience of quality of interpersonal relationships are prospectively associated with recovery. In conclusion, findings indicate that interpersonal relationships and social interaction are central drivers of recovery in patients with psychotic disorders.

Comprehensive Health Assessment for Children in Out-of-Home Care: An Exploratory Study of Service Needs and Mental Health in a Norwegian Population.

A comprehensive model for routine multi-disciplinary health assessment for children in out-of-home care was piloted in a Norwegian region. This paper reports on identified service needs and mental disorders among 196 children (0-17 years) receiving the assessment. Cross-sectional data was extracted from assessment reports. Results show needs across a range of services, with a mean of 2.8 recommended services for children aged 0-6 and 3.3 for children aged 7-17. Mental disorders were identified in 50% of younger children, and 70% of older children. For all children, overall service need was associated with mental disorders, in addition to male gender among younger children. Need for specialized mental health services was associated with mental disorders among younger children and increasing age among older children. The high frequency of service needs and mental disorders illustrate the importance of offering comprehensive health assessments routinely to this high-risk child population and necessitates coordinated service delivery.

Implementation of Guidelines on Family Involvement for Persons with Psychotic Disorders (IFIP): A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.

Family involvement is part of the evidence-based treatment for persons with psychotic disorders, yet is under-implemented despite guideline recommendations. This study assessed whether an implementation support programme increased the adherence to guidelines on family involvement, compared to guideline/manual only. In a cluster randomised design, community mental health centre units in South-East Norway went through stratified allocation to the experimental (n = 7) or control (n = 7) arm. Experimental clusters received an implementation support programme including clinical training and supervision, appointing a family coordinator and an implementation team, a toolkit, and fidelity measurements at baseline, 12, 18, and 24 months with on-site feedback and supervision. Control clusters received no such support and had fidelity measurements at baseline and 24 months without feedback. During fidelity measurements, adherence to the guidelines was measured with the basic family involvement and support scale, the general organizational index, and the family psychoeducation fidelity scale, the latter being the primary outcome. The scales consist of 12-14 items rated from 1 to 5. Data was analysed with an independent samples t-test, linear mixed models, and a tobit regression model. At 24 months, the mean scores were 4.00 or higher on all scales in the experimental arm, and the increase in adherence to the guidelines was significantly greater than in the control arm with p-values < 0.001. Large-scale implementation of guidelines on family involvement for persons with psychotic disorders in community mental health centres may be accomplished, with substantial implementation support.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03869177. Registered 11.03.19.

Editorial Perspective: Prato Research Collaborative for change in parent and child mental health - principles and recommendations for working with children and parents living with parental mental illness.

Children whose parents have mental illnesses are among the most vulnerable in our communities. There is however, much that can be done to prevent or mitigate the impact of a parent's illness on children. Notwithstanding the availability of several evidence-based interventions, efforts to support these children have been limited by a lack of adequate support structures. Major service reorientation is required to better meet the needs of these children and their families. This editorial provides recommendations for practice, organisational, and systems change.

Accessibility and interventions of crisis resolution teams: a multicenter study of team practices and team differences in Norway.

BACKGROUND: Components of crisis resolution teams' (CRTs) practices have been defined in recommendations and a fidelity scale, and surveys have reported how team leaders describe CRT practices. However, studies on CRTs have not measured and reported details of the crisis intervention provided to individual service users. The present study aimed to measure how various components of CRT practice were provided to individual service users and differences in practice between CRTs. METHODS: The study was exploratory and part of a prospective multicenter pre-post project on outcome of CRT treatment in Norway. Accessibility and intervention components of 25 CRTs were measured for 959 service users at the first contact after referral and in 3,244 sessions with service users. The data on CRT practice components were analyzed with descriptive statistics and factor analyses, and differences between teams were analyzed using ANOVA and calculating the proportion (intraclass correlation coefficient) of total variance that was due to differences between teams. RESULTS: One-third of the service users had their first session with the CRT the day of referral and another third the following day. Treatment intensity was mean 1.8 sessions the first week, gradually decreasing over subsequent weeks. Three of ten sessions were conducted in the service user's home and six of ten in the team's location. Eight of ten sessions took place during office hours and two of ten in the evening. The CRT provided assessment and psychological interventions to all service users. Family involvement, practical support, and medication were provided to two of ten service users. Between CRTs, significant differences were identified for a substantial proportion of practice components and especially for several aspects of accessibility. Cluster analysis identified two clusters of CRTs with significant differences in accessibility but no significant differences in the use of intervention components. CONCLUSIONS: Measurements of accessibility and interventions provided to individual service users gave a detailed description of CRT practices and differences between teams. Such measurements may be helpful as feedback on clinical practice, for studying and comparing crisis resolution team practices, and in future studies on the association between different outcomes and potential critical elements of crisis interventions.

Suicidal ideation in patients with mental illness and concurrent substance use: analyses of national census data in Norway.

BACKGROUND: Suicidal ideation may signal potential risk for future suicidal behaviors and death. We examined the prevalence of recent suicidal ideation in patients with mental illness and concurrent substance use and explored the clinical and sociodemographic factors associated with suicidal ideation in this patient subgroup, which represents a particular risk group for adverse psychiatric outcomes. METHODS: We used national cross-sectional census data in Norway collected from 25,525 patients in specialized mental health services. The analytic sample comprised 3,842 patients with concurrent substance use, defined as having a co-morbid substance use disorder or who reported recent regular alcohol use/occasional illicit drug use. Data included suicidal ideation measured in relation to the current treatment episode, sociodemographic characteristics and ICD-10 diagnoses. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine differential characteristics between patients with and without suicidal ideation. RESULTS: The prevalence of suicidal ideation was 25.8%. The suicidal ideation rates were particularly high for those with personality disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and depression, and for alcohol and sedatives compared with other substances. Patients with suicidal ideation were characterized by being younger, having single marital status, and having poorly perceived social relationships with family and friends. CONCLUSION: Suicidal ideation in patients with mental illness and concurrent substance use was associated with a number of distinct characteristics. These results might help contribute to an increased focus on a subgroup of individuals at particular risk for suicidality and support suicide prevention efforts in specialized mental health services.

Experiences of shared decision making among patients with psychotic disorders in Norway: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Shared decision making (SDM) is a process where the patient and the health professional collaborate to make decisions based on both the patient's preferences and the best available evidence. Patients with psychotic disorders are less involved in making decisions than they would like. More knowledge of these patients' experiences of SDM may improve implementation. The study aim was to describe and explore experiences of SDM among patients with psychotic disorders in mental health care. METHODS: Individual interviews were conducted with ten persons with a psychotic disorder. They were service users of two community mental health centres. The transcribed material was analysed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Four-fifths of the participants in this study found that they received insufficient information about their health situation and treatment options. All participants experienced that only one kind of treatment was often presented, which was usually medication. Although the study found that different degrees of involvement were practised, two thirds of the participants had little impact on choices to be made. This was despite the fact that they wanted to participate and felt capable of participating, even during periods of more severe illness. The participants described how important it was that SDM in psychosis was based on a trusting relationship, but stated that it took time to establish such a relationship. CONCLUSIONS: This study with ten participants indicates that patients with psychotic disorders experienced that they were not allowed to participate as much as they wanted to and believed they were capable of. Some patients were involved, but to a lesser degree than in SDM. More and better tailored information communicated within a trusting relationship is needed to provide psychotic patients with a better basis for active involvement in decisions about their health care.

Associations between personal recovery and service user-rated versus clinician-rated clinical recovery, a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the relationship between service user-rated personal recovery and clinician-rated and service user-rated clinical recovery. The relationships between different subdomains of clinical recovery and personal recovery were also assessed. METHODS: In total, 318 mental health service users with a psychosis diagnosis and their clinicians from 39 sites across Norway completed standardized questionnaires regarding personal recovery, clinical symptoms and psychosocial functioning. Regression models were used to investigate the relationship between personal and clinical recovery. RESULTS: Overall, clinical recovery was positively associated with personal recovery, when rated both by service users and by clinicians. Personal recovery was associated with lower levels of depression, self-harm and problems with relationships when rated by the service users. Among the subdomains rated by the clinicians, personal recovery was associated with fewer problems with relationships and higher aggressiveness. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that affective symptoms are associated with personal recovery, indicating the need for greater focus on depression treatment among people with psychosis. Improving social connections is of importance for personal recovery, and might be an area where clinicians and service users can meet and find agreement on important treatment goals.

Similarities and differences between service users' and carers' experiences of crisis resolution teams in Norway: a survey.

BACKGROUND: Crisis resolution team (CRT) care in adult mental health services is intended to provide accessible and flexible short-term, intensive crisis intervention to service users experiencing a mental health crisis and involve their carers (next of kin). Research on users' and especially carers' experiences with CRT care is scarce and is mostly qualitative in nature. METHODS: Altogether, 111 service users and 86 carers from 28 Norwegian CRTs were interviewed with The Service User and Carer Structured Interviews of the CORE Crisis Resolution Team Fidelity Scale Version 2. Their experiences with different aspects of CRT care were reported with descriptive statistics, and differences between service users' and carers' experiences were analyzed with the Mann-Whitney U Test. RESULTS: The service users and carers reported that the CRT care mostly reflected their needs and what they wanted. The experiences of service users and carers were mostly similar, except for significant differences in received information and how the termination of CRT care appeared. Both groups experienced the organization of the CRT care as accessible, with continuity, reliability, and flexibility, but without a high intensity of care. Both groups found the content of the CRT care supportive, sensitive, with a choice of treatment type and a range of interventions beyond medication, but a lack of written treatment plans and discharge plans. Carers were rarely involved in discharge meetings. Regarding the role of CRTs within the care system, both groups agreed upon the lack of facilitation of early discharge from inpatient wards and lack of home treatment, but both groups confirmed some collaboration with other mental health services. CONCLUSION: Service users and carers found that the CRTs were accessible, reliable, flexible, supportive, sensitive, and provided a range of interventions beyond medication. Limitations were lack of a high intensity of care, limited written treatment and discharge plans, limited provision of home treatment, and lack of gatekeeping of acute beds. Both groups experienced the CRT care as mostly similar, but with significant differences regarding involvement in care planning and discharge preparation.

Psychiatric patients' attitudes towards being hospitalized: a national multicentre study in Norway.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to explore patients' attitudes towards voluntary and involuntary hospitalization in Norway, and predictors for involuntary patients who wanted admission. METHODS: A multi-centre study of consecutively admitted patients to emergency psychiatric wards over a 3 months period in 2005-06. Data included demographics, admission status (voluntary / involuntary), symptom levels, and whether the patients expressed a wish to be admitted regardless of judicial status. To analyse predictors of wanting admission (binary variable), a generalized linear mixed modelling was conducted, using random intercepts for the site, and fixed effects for all variables, with logit link-function. RESULTS: The sample comprised of 3.051 patients of witch 1.232 (40.4%) were being involuntary hospitalised. As expected 96.5% of the voluntary admitted patients wanted admission, while as many as 29.7% of the involuntary patients stated that they wanted the same. The involuntary patients wanting admission were less likely to be transported by police, had less aggression, hallucinations and delusions, more depressed mood, less use of drugs, less suicidality before admission, better social functioning and were less often referred by general practitioners compared with involuntary patients who did not want admission. In a multivariate analysis, predictors for involuntary hospitalization and wanting admission were, not being transported by police, less aggression and less use of drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Almost a third of the involuntary admitted patients stated that they actually wanted to be hospitalized. It thus seems to be important to thoroughly address patients' preferences, both before and after admission, regarding whether they wish to be hospitalized or not.

Can systematic implementation support improve programme fidelity by improving care providers' perceptions of implementation factors? A cluster randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Investigations of implementation factors (e.g., collegial support and sense of coherence) are recommended to better understand and address inadequate implementation outcomes. Little is known about the relationship between implementation factors and outcomes, especially in later phases of an implementation effort. The aims of this study were to assess the association between implementation success (measured by programme fidelity) and care providers' perceptions of implementation factors during an implementation process and to investigate whether these perceptions are affected by systematic implementation support. METHODS: Using a cluster-randomized design, mental health clinics were drawn to receive implementation support for one (intervention) and not for another (control) of four evidence-based practices. Programme fidelity and care providers' perceptions (Implementation Process Assessment Tool questionnaire) were scored for both intervention and control groups at baseline, 6-, 12- and 18-months. Associations and group differences were tested by means of descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and confidence interval) and linear mixed effect analysis. RESULTS: Including 33 mental health centres or wards, we found care providers' perceptions of a set of implementation factors to be associated with fidelity but not at baseline. After 18 months of implementation effort, fidelity and care providers' perceptions were strongly correlated (B (95% CI) = .7 (.2, 1.1), p = .004). Care providers perceived implementation factors more positively when implementation support was provided than when it was not (t (140) = 2.22, p = .028). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation support can facilitate positive perceptions among care providers, which is associated with higher programme fidelity. To improve implementation success, we should pay more attention to how care providers constantly perceive implementation factors during all phases of the implementation effort. Further research is needed to investigate the validity of our findings in other settings and to improve our understanding of ongoing decision-making among care providers, i.e., the mechanisms of sustaining the high fidelity of recommended practices. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03271242 (registration date: 05.09.2017).

Barriers and facilitators when implementing family involvement for persons with psychotic disorders in community mental health centres - a nested qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The uptake of family involvement in health care services for patients with psychotic disorders is poor, despite a clear evidence base, socio-economic and moral justifications, policy, and guideline recommendations. To respond to this knowledge-practice gap, we established the cluster randomised controlled trial: Implementation of guidelines on Family Involvement for persons with Psychotic disorders in community mental health centres (IFIP). Nested in the IFIP trial, this sub-study aims to explore what organisational and clinical barriers and facilitators local implementation teams and clinicians experience when implementing family involvement in mental health care for persons with psychotic disorders. METHODS: We performed 21 semi-structured focus groups, including 75 participants in total. Implementation team members were interviewed at the initial and middle phases of the intervention period, while clinicians who were not in the implementation team were interviewed in the late phase. A purposive sampling approach was used to recruit participants with various engagement in the implementation process. Data were analysed using manifest content analysis. RESULTS: Organisational barriers to involvement included: 1) Lack of shared knowledge, perceptions, and practice 2) Lack of routines 3) Lack of resources and logistics. Clinical barriers included: 4) Patient-related factors 5) Relative-related factors 6) Provider-related factors. Organisational facilitators for involvement included: 1) Whole-ward approach 2) Appointed and dedicated roles 3) Standardisation and routines. Clinical facilitators included: 4) External implementation support 5) Understanding, skills, and self-efficacy among mental health professionals 6) Awareness and attitudes among mental health professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing family involvement in health care services for persons with psychotic disorders is possible through a whole-ward and multi-level approach, ensured by organisational- and leadership commitment. Providing training in family psychoeducation to all staff, establishing routines to offer a basic level of family involvement to all patients, and ensuring that clinicians get experience with family involvement, reduce or dissolve core barriers. Having access to external implementation support appears decisive to initiate, promote and evaluate implementation. Our findings also point to future policy, practice and implementation developments to offer adequate treatment and support to all patients with severe mental illness and their families. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03869177. Registered 11.03.19.

Norwegian health personnel's compliance with new legislation on children of ill parents: an exploratory cross-sectional multicentre study.

BACKGROUND: In 2010 the Norwegian Parliament introduced amendments to the Health Personnel Act requiring all health personnel to inform and offer help to their patients' children and families. We evaluated whether health personnel adhered to their obligations outlined in the Act and investigated whether family and health services characteristics were associated with the degree of compliance with the legislation. Our study was part of a larger Norwegian multi-site study conducted in five health trusts across Norway, assessing the situation for families living with parental illness. METHOD: A cross-sectional study using quantitative data obtained from 518 patients 246 children and 278 health personnel was performed. All informants completed a questionnaire, including an instrument corresponding to the obligations in the legislation. Descriptive analyses, factor analysis and logistic regression analysis were used. RESULTS: The legislation was only partially implemented in the clinics of the health trusts. Compared to estimates prior to the introduction of the new legislation, the situation had improved somewhat, but much work remains to be done to fulfil the obligations decreed by law. The more time-consuming the obligations were, the less often they were met. The substance abuse and mental health services followed up on their obligations to a greater extent than did the physical health services. Conversely, children of physically ill parents were better informed by their families than were children of parents with mental health and substance abuse disorders. When asked the same questions, reports from health personnel were more positive compared to those of children and patients regarding the legislation's fulfillment. CONCLUSION: Data suggest that there has been a change in the support offered to children of ill parents. Additional work is required, however, for the Health Personnel Act to function as fully intended.

'No service is an island': experiences of collaboration with crisis resolution teams in Norway.

Crisis resolution teams (CRTs) are a community-based service targeting adults experiencing acute mental health crises. The rationale for the development of CRTs is both value and efficacy based, suggesting that CRTs should contribute to the humanizing of mental health services and replace some acute hospital-based services with services in the community. Despite the collaborative nature of CRT work, how professionals from health and social services experience collaboration with CRTs is scantly explored. In the current study, semi-structured focus group interviews with eight different groups of 44 clinicians collaborating with CRTs in Norway were conducted. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and categorized into four themes: (1) 'The accessible experts', (2) 'A broad and deep expertise', (3) 'Doing it together' and (4) 'Toward a new culture?'. The themes elaborate on issues related to the content and organization of CRT services, emphasizing the need for CRTs to be able to contribute their professional expertise in accessible, flexible and collaborative ways. A diversity in the knowledge base and in how services are organized may pose a challenge in interprofessional mental health crisis collaboration and mutual expectations. The study suggests that a shift toward a value-based and coherent mental health and social system could be a purposeful direction.

Family involvement practices for persons with psychotic disorders in community mental health centres - a cross-sectional fidelity-based study.

BACKGROUND: Family involvement for persons with psychotic disorders is supported by scientific evidence, as well as legal and ethical considerations, and recommended in clinical practice guidelines. This article reports a cross-sectional measurement of the level of implementation of such guidelines in fifteen community mental health centre units in Norway, and presents a novel fidelity scale to measure basic family involvement and support. The aim was to investigate current family involvement practices comprehensively, as a basis for targeted quality improvement. METHODS: We employed three fidelity scales, with 12-14 items, to measure family involvement practices. Items were scored from 1 to 5, where 1 equals no implementation and 5 equals full implementation. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, a non-parametric test, and calculation of interrater reliability for the scales. RESULTS: The mean score was 2.33 on the fidelity scale measuring basic family involvement and support. Among patients with psychotic disorders, only 4% had received family psychoeducation. On the family psychoeducation fidelity assessment scale, measuring practice and content, the mean score was 2.78. Among the eight units who offered family psychoeducation, it was 4.34. On the general organizational index scale, measuring the organisation and implementation of family psychoeducation, the mean score was 1.78. Among the units who offered family psychoeducation, it was 2.46. As a measure of interrater reliability, the intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.99 for the basic family involvement and support scale, 0.93 for the family psychoeducation fidelity assessment scale and 0.96 for the general organizational index scale. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation level of the national guidelines on family involvement for persons with psychotic disorders was generally poor. The quality of family psychoeducation was high, but few patients had received this evidence-based treatment. Our novel fidelity scale shows promising psychometric properties and may prove a useful tool to improve the quality of health services. There is a need to increase the implementation of family involvement practices in Norway, to reach a larger percentage of patients and relatives. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03869177 . Registered 11.03.19.

Somatic symptoms and associations with common psychological diagnoses: a retrospective cohort study from Norwegian urban general practice.

BACKGROUND: Patients with mental health problems often present with somatic symptoms when visiting their general practitioner (GP). Somatic presentations may challenge correct diagnosing of mental health disorders in general practice, where most of these disorders are treated. OBJECTIVE: Explore the associations between common psychological diagnoses and somatic symptom diagnoses in Norwegian urban general practice. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study including electronic medical data from 15 750 patients aged 16-65 years from 35 GPs in six GP offices in Oslo, Norway, during 12 months in 2014-2015. We explored prevalences and associations between anxiety-, depression-, and stress-related diagnoses, and somatic symptom diagnoses. RESULTS: Patients with anxiety-, depression- and stress-related diagnoses had a mean number of 2.9±3.6 somatic symptom diagnoses during the 12 months, compared to 1.9±2.5 for patients without any psychological diagnoses (P < 0.001). The mean number of somatic symptoms was significantly higher for the different psychological diagnoses viewed separately, for both sexes and different age groups. There was an increase in probability for anxiety, depression, or stress-related diagnoses with an increasing number of somatic symptom diagnoses during the 12 months. We found a significant increase in somatic symptom diagnoses from ICPC-2 chapters: General and unspecified, digestive, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neurological, urological, female genital disorders and social problems. Associated symptom patterns were different for each of the included psychological diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that patients with anxiety, depression- and stress-related diagnoses present with increased and characteristic somatic symptoms compared to patients without these diagnoses in general practice.

Patients in general practice often present with diffuse and unexplained symptoms that are not always easily separated into mental or physical categories. In this study, we found that patients with anxiety-, depression- and stress-related diagnoses have more bodily symptoms than patients without these diagnoses. We observed different bodily symptom patterns for the various psychological diagnoses included in this study. Also, we found a higher risk of having a psychological diagnosis with increasing bodily symptoms.

Patient-controlled admission contracts: a longitudinal study of patient evaluations.

BACKGROUND: Mental health professionals usually decide patients' access to inpatient care to ensure care based on need and potential benefit. The purpose of the current study is to investigate how patients evaluate admissions under a contract of Patient-Controlled Admissions (PCA), where the patient could initiate 5 day stays at a community mental health center at their own discretion. METHODS: Patients with a PCA contract in 2011 and 2012 were invited to participate in the study. Staff first recorded clinical baseline values for patients. Towards the end of each PCA stay, staff conducted a structured discharge interview of the admission with the patient. A structured follow-up interview evaluating the PCA arrangement 2 years after inclusion was also performed. We report frequencies from data on PCA requests, PCA admissions and the 2 year evaluation interview, and we used multiple regression models to explore predictors of perceived helpfulness and improvement from the PCA admissions. RESULTS: The included patients (n = 74) made 628 requests for PCAs during the 2 years after inclusion, and 507 PCAs took place. The five-day limit could not be upheld in 7.5% of PCAs. Patients rated PCAs as helping considerably (33.1%), a good deal (30.4%) or somewhat (21.1%), and reported feeling considerably (15.2%), a good deal (26.2%) or somewhat (36.3%) better during the admission. Significant predictors of helpfulness and feeling better were socializing more during the stay and reporting higher motivation to get away from a difficult situation or getting to the ward safety and calmness. A diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum or bipolar disorder and more services from mental health specialist care also predicted feeling better during the PCA. In the two-year follow-up interview, 90% rated themselves as very or quite satisfied, and more than 90% would recommend PCAs to others. CONCLUSIONS: The PCA arrangement was feasible and was frequently utilized by patients. Patients were satisfied with PCAs and the PCA arrangement. These short stays seemed particularly helpful for patients with a more severe diagnosis. Strong patient satisfaction gives reasons for testing and implementing increased patient influence on the mental health admission procedures in the form of PCAs.