RESUMEN
Background: The empirical success of the Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P) paradigm is determined by the concurrent integration of efficient detection of cases at-risk, accurate prognosis, and effective preventive treatment within specialized clinical services. The characteristics of the CHR-P services are relatively under-investigated. Method: A Pan-London Network for psychosis prevention (PNP) was created across urban CHR-P services. These services were surveyed to collect the following: description of the service and catchment area, outreach, service users, interventions, and outcomes. The results were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Kaplan Meier failure function. Results: The PNP included five CHR-P services across two NHS Trusts: Outreach and Support In South-London (OASIS) in Lambeth and Southwark, OASIS in Croydon and Lewisham, Tower Hamlets Early Detection Service (THEDS), City & Hackney At-Risk Mental State Service (HEADS UP) and Newham Early Intervention Service (NEIS). The PNP serves a total population of 2,318,515 Londoners (830,889; age, 16-35 years), with a yearly recruitment capacity of 220 CHR-P individuals (age, 22.55 years). Standalone teams (OASIS and THEDS) are more established and successful than teams that share their resources with other mental health services (HEADS UP, NEIS). Characteristics of the catchment areas, outreach and service users, differ across PNP services; all of them offer psychotherapy to prevent psychosis. The PNP is supporting several CHR-P translational research projects. Conclusions: The PNP is the largest CHR-P clinical network in the UK; it represents a reference benchmark for implementing detection, prognosis, and care in the real-world clinical routine, as well as for translating research innovations into practice.
RESUMEN
Clinical services for the early detection of individuals at clinical high risk of psychosis, such as Outreach and Support in South-London (OASIS), have been successful in providing psychological intervention and psychosocial support to young people experiencing emerging signs of serious mental disorders. Despite this, several studies have repeatedly shown that vocational and functional recovery in the clinical high risk for psychosis population is still low. This study aimed at evaluating the presence and nature of educational and employment focused interventions within the OASIS service, in order to inform research and clinical interventions aimed at supporting young people with early signs of psychosis on their path to vocational recovery. The specific objectives were to compare current practice i) to standards defined by the National Institute of Care Excellence guidelines; and ii) to principles defined by Individual Placement and Support (IPS). Nine standards of practice were derived. The OASIS caseload electronic records entered between January 2015 and January 2017 were manually screened. Data collected include sociodemographic, assessment of employment and educational status and support needs, interventions received, contacts with schools, employers and external vocational providers, employment, and educational status. Standards were considered as "met" if they were met for at least 90% of clients. Results suggest that, two out of nine standards were met while the remaining standards were only partially met. In particular, support provided was always focused on competitive employment and mainstream education and support was always based on people's interest. Implications for clinical and research practice are discussed.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Patients at ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR) are a highly heterogeneous group in terms of clinical and functional outcomes. Several non-psychotic mental disorders co-occur together with the UHR state. Little is known about the impact of non-psychotic comorbid mental disorders on clinical and functional outcomes of UHR patients. METHODS: The sample included 154 UHR help-seeking patients (identified with the CAARMS, comprehensive assessment of the at-risk mental state), evaluated at baseline on the Ham-D, Ham-A (Hamilton depression/anxiety rating scale), and PANSS (positive and negative syndrome scale). 74 patients completed the 6-year follow-up assessment (mean=6.19, SD=1.87). Comorbid disorders at follow-up were assessed with the SCID I and II. Global functioning was rated on the global assessment of functioning (GAF) scale. RESULTS: In the present sample, 6-year risk of psychosis transition was 28.4%. Among non-transitioned UHR patients, 28.3% reported attenuated psychotic symptoms (APS) and 45.3% remained functionally impaired at follow-up (GAF<60). 56.8% patients were affected by at least one comorbid disorder at follow-up. Among UHR patients who presented with some comorbid disorder at baseline, 61.5% had persistent or recurrent course. Incident comorbid disorders emerged in 45.4% of baseline UHR patients. The persistence or recurrence of non-psychotic comorbid mental disorders was associated with poorer global functional outcomes at follow-up. LIMITATIONS: A substantial proportion of the initial sample was not available for follow-up interviews and some groups in the analyses had small sample size. Predictors of longitudinal outcomes were not explored. CONCLUSIONS: Among UHR patients, persistence or recurrence of non-psychotic comorbid mental disorders, mostly affective disorders, is associated with 6-year poor functional outcomes.
