Abstract
BackgroundThe purpose of the study was to improve the quality of primary mental healthcare in underserved communities through involvement with the wider primary care team members and local community agencies.MethodsWe developed training intended for all GP practice staff which included elements of knowledge transfer, systems review and active linking. Seven GP Practices in four localities (North West England, UK) took part in the training. Qualitative evaluation was conducted using thirteen semi-structured interviews and two focus groups in six of the participating practices; analysis used principles of Framework Analysis.ResultsStaff who had engaged with the training programme reported increased awareness, recognition and respect for the needs of patients from under-served communities. We received reports of changes in style and content of interactions, particularly amongst receptionists, and evidence of system change. In addition, the training program increased awareness of – and encouraged signposting to - community agencies within the practice locality.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates how engaging with practices and delivering training in a changing health care system might best be attempted. The importance of engaging with community agencies is clear, as is the use of the AMP model as a template for further research.
Highlights
The purpose of the study was to improve the quality of primary mental healthcare in underserved communities through involvement with the wider primary care team members and local community agencies
This paper presents the development and evaluation of the Primary Care Quality component, and explores whether quality improvement in primary care is enhanced by the involvement of the wider primary care team and engagement with the local community
Working with our Primary Care Trust (PCT) partners, we identified eight general practices in 4 deprived localities which were invited to take part in the AMP programme [31]
Summary
The purpose of the study was to improve the quality of primary mental healthcare in underserved communities through involvement with the wider primary care team members and local community agencies. The management of people with common mental health problems represents a significant part of general practitioners’ (GPs) daily work [1,2]. It is known that offering training to GPs, even if this includes work on skills as well as knowledge, does not lead to improvement in outcomes for patients with mental health problems [4,5,6,7]. [8] suggest that training by itself does not improve care or patient outcomes, if combined with additional guidelines implementation, results may be promising for newly diagnosed patients with depression. Wensing et al [9] report that multifaceted interventions are more effective than single interventions in changing practitioner behaviour. They found that using a combination of basic information transfer with learning through social influence was more effective, and that the combination of three or four different approaches was more successful than a single intervention
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