[Cooperation between primary care and mental health services]. / Cooperación entre atención primaria y servicios de salud mental.

PURPOSE: To find out the current coordination/cooperation level of primary care (PC) with the adult mental health centres (AMHC), the addiction treatment centres (ATC) and children and adolescent mental health centres (CAMHC) of Catalonia (Spain). Differences in coordination between urban and non-urban areas were also evaluated. DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING: Eighty PC centres representing the seven health regions of Catalonia. PARTICIPANTS: Selection was by means of a multi-staged and stratified sampling method. A total of 356 of the 618 PC physicians who agreed to participate completed a survey evaluating different aspects of coordination with the specialised mental health services. RESULTS: The PC physicians indicated that the availability of AMHC was worse than that provided by ACT and CAMHC. However, the reports on the state of the referred patients and the training courses in mental health offered by the AMHC were more frequent. There were no significant differences in availability or training in mental health between urban and non-urban areas. CONCLUSIONS: The cooperation between the PC and the specialised mental health services of Catalonia is optimal in some aspects, but patient waiting time needs to be reduced for first visits to the AMHC and training activities offered by the CAMHC and the ACT need to be increased.

Cooperación entre atención primaria y servicios de salud mental / Cooperation between primary care and mental health services

ObjetivoConocer el grado de coordinación/cooperación entre la atención primaria (AP) de Cataluña y los centros de salud mental de adultos (CSMA), los centros de atención y seguimiento a las drogodependencias (CASD) y los centros de salud mental infanto-juvenil (CSMIJ). Evaluar si hay diferencias en coordinación en función del carácter urbano o rural de los municipios.DiseñoEstudio descriptivo transversal.Emplazamiento80 centros de AP representativos de las 7 regiones sanitarias de Cataluña.ParticipantesSelección mediante muestreo aleatorio estratificado; 356 de los 618 médicos de familia a los que se ofreció participar completaron una encuesta que evaluaba diferentes aspectos de coordinación con los servicios especializados.ResultadosLos participantes indicaron un peor acceso a los CSMA que a los CASD y a los CSMIJ. Sin embargo, la formación proporcionada por los CSMA era mejor que la de los otros dos dispositivos en todos los indicadores empleados. No se hallaron diferencias significativas en las variables de acceso y formación entre zonas urbanas y rurales.ConclusionesLa cooperación entre la AP y los servicios especializados en salud mental de Cataluña es óptima en algunos aspectos. No obstante, sería conveniente que se redujera el tiempo de espera para las primeras visitas en los CSMA y que los CASD y los CSMIJ incrementaran las actividades de formación(AU)

PurposeTo find out the current coordination/cooperation level of primary care (PC) with the adult mental health centres (AMHC), the addiction treatment centres (ATC) and children and adolescent mental health centres (CAMHC) of Catalonia (Spain). Differences in coordination between urban and non-urban areas were also evaluated.DesignCross-sectional descriptive study.SettingEighty PC centres representing the seven health regions of Catalonia.ParticipantsSelection was by means of a multi-staged and stratified sampling method. A total of 356 of the 618 PC physicians who agreed to participate completed a survey evaluating different aspects of coordination with the specialised mental health services.ResultsThe PC physicians indicated that the availability of AMHC was worse than that provided by ACT and CAMHC. However, the reports on the state of the referred patients and the training courses in mental health offered by the AMHC were more frequent. There were no significant differences in availability or training in mental health between urban and non-urban areas.ConclusionsThe cooperation between the PC and the specialised mental health services of Catalonia is optimal in some aspects, but patient waiting time needs to be reduced for first visits to the AMHC and training activities offered by the CAMHC and the ACT need to be increased(AU)