Psychiatry - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableOutcomes of Victorian Prevention and Recovery Care Services: A matched pairs comparison(SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD, 2021-12)OBJECTIVE: In Victoria, Prevention and Recovery Care Services have been established to provide a partial alternative to inpatient admissions through short-term residential mental health care in the community. This study set out to determine whether Prevention and Recovery Care Services are achieving their objectives in relation to reducing service use and costs, fostering least restrictive care and leading to positive clinical outcomes. METHODS: We matched 621 consumers whose index admission in 2014 was to a Prevention and Recovery Care ('PARCS consumers') with 621 similar consumers whose index admission in the same year was to an acute inpatient unit and who had no Prevention and Recovery Care stays for the study period ('inpatient-only consumers'). We used routinely collected data to compare them on a range of outcomes. RESULTS: Prevention and Recovery Care Services consumers made less subsequent use of acute inpatient services and, on balance, incurred costs that were similar to or lower than inpatient-only consumers. They were also less likely to spend time on an involuntary treatment order following their index admission. Prevention and Recovery Care Services consumers also experienced positive clinical outcomes over the course of their index admission, but the magnitude of this improvement was not as great as for inpatient-only consumers. This type of clinical improvement is important for Prevention and Recovery Care Services, but they may place greater emphasis on personal recovery as an outcome. CONCLUSION: Prevention and Recovery Care Services can provide an alternative, less restrictive care option for eligible consumers who might otherwise be admitted to an acute inpatient unit and do so at no greater cost.
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ItemSimilarities and differences in people accessing prevention and recovery care services and inpatient units in Victoria, Australia(BMC, 2020-06-16)BACKGROUND: There is an emerging international literature demonstrating clinical and cost-effectiveness of sub-acute residential mental health services. To date, however, there is limited information on the profile of consumers accessing these models of care. This study aimed to understand the profile of the population served by adult sub-acute residential mental health services in Victoria, Australia (known as Prevention and Recovery Care; PARC) and to compare PARC service consumers with consumers admitted to psychiatric inpatient units within public hospitals. METHOD: Using 5 years (2012-2016) of a state-wide database of routinely collected individual level mental health service data, we describe the socio-demographic and clinical profile of PARC service consumers compared to consumers of psychiatric inpatient units including for primary diagnosis and illness severity. Using admissions as the unit of analysis, we identify the characteristics that distinguish PARC service admissions from psychiatric inpatient admissions. We also examine and compare length of stay for the different admission types. RESULTS: We analysed 78,264 admissions representing 34,906 individuals. The profile of PARC service consumers differed from those admitted to inpatient units including for sex, age, diagnosis and illness severity. The odds of an admission being to a PARC service was associated with several socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Being male or in the youngest age grouping (< 20 years) significantly reduced the odds of admission to PARC services. The presence of primary diagnoses of schizophrenia and related disorders, mood, anxiety or personality disorders, all significantly increased the odds of admission to PARC services. Predictors of length of stay were consistent across PARC and inpatient admission types. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest PARC services may serve an overlapping but distinguishably different consumer group than inpatient psychiatric units. Future research on sub-acute mental health services should be cognizant of these consumer differences, particularly when assessing the long-term effectiveness of this service option.
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ItemThe experience of the use of Community Treatment Orders following recovery-oriented practice training(PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2019)States across Australia are changing and adapting policy and laws to deliver mental health services using principles of personal recovery. Yet, the use of Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) remains high in apparent contradiction with this change. As part of the PULSAR trial investigating the outcomes of recovery oriented practice (ROP) training in primary and secondary care services within Metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, a qualitative study was undertaken to explore the intersection between implementing ROP and working with consumers on CTOs. In-depth interviews were undertaken with consumers with experience being on CTOs and staff of secondary care services, and inductively analysed to identify themes. For consumers, being on a CTO meant lacking choice and control, an emphasis on medication, fear of the threat of hospitalisation, an absence of recovery oriented practice, and staying supported. For staff, recovery oriented practice in the presence of CTOs is challenging, with CTOs being seen to be a primary way to manage risk. Staff supported recovery as a practice, but identified a lack of organisational 'buy in' by services. The findings of this small scale study, embedded in a much larger study about ROP, support other literature that identifies implementing ROP in services that use CTOs as potentially problematic; and that ROP can enhance both consumers and staff experiences of services but, without systemic change, there may not be a significant shift in the use of CTOs, while CTOs also inhibit uptake of ROP.
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ItemThe PULSAR Specialist Care protocol: a stepped-wedge cluster randomized control trial of a training intervention for community mental health teams in recovery-oriented practice(BMC, 2017-05-08)BACKGROUND: Recovery features strongly in Australian mental health policy; however, evidence is limited for the efficacy of recovery-oriented practice at the service level. This paper describes the Principles Unite Local Services Assisting Recovery (PULSAR) Specialist Care trial protocol for a recovery-oriented practice training intervention delivered to specialist mental health services staff. The primary aim is to evaluate whether adult consumers accessing services where staff have received the intervention report superior recovery outcomes compared to adult consumers accessing services where staff have not yet received the intervention. A qualitative sub-study aims to examine staff and consumer views on implementing recovery-oriented practice. A process evaluation sub-study aims to articulate important explanatory variables affecting the interventions rollout and outcomes. METHODS: The mixed methods design incorporates a two-step stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) examining cross-sectional data from three phases, and nested qualitative and process evaluation sub-studies. Participating specialist mental health care services in Melbourne, Victoria are divided into 14 clusters with half randomly allocated to receive the staff training in year one and half in year two. Research participants are consumers aged 18-75 years who attended the cluster within a previous three-month period either at baseline, 12 (step 1) or 24 months (step 2). In the two nested sub-studies, participation extends to cluster staff. The primary outcome is the Questionnaire about the Process of Recovery collected from 756 consumers (252 each at baseline, step 1, step 2). Secondary and other outcomes measuring well-being, service satisfaction and health economic impact are collected from a subset of 252 consumers (63 at baseline; 126 at step 1; 63 at step 2) via interviews. Interview-based longitudinal data are also collected 12 months apart from 88 consumers with a psychotic disorder diagnosis (44 at baseline, step 1; 44 at step 1, step 2). cRCT data will be analyzed using multilevel mixed-effects modelling to account for clustering and some repeated measures, supplemented by thematic analysis of qualitative interview data. The process evaluation will draw on qualitative, quantitative and documentary data. DISCUSSION: Findings will provide an evidence-base for the continued transformation of Australian mental health service frameworks toward recovery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry: ACTRN12614000957695 . Date registered: 8 September 2014.