Assessment-based Home Treatment for People with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Introduction There is a growing evidence for clinical effectiveness of Home Treatment for patients with severe psychotic disorders . Here we present the development and implementation of a manualised assessment-based Home Treatment in Germany. Objectives We compared the 6-month effectiveness of an assessment-based Home Treatment in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder to standard care in a catchment area design. Aims The primary outcome criteria was the rehospitalisation rate. Secondary outcomes comprised improvement of symptoms, functioning, quality of life, medication adherence and satisfaction with care. Methods Assessments were carried out at baseline and at 3 and 6 month. Inpatient admission and treatment contacts were assessed from the hospital database. Results We visited 20 patients with severe psychotic disorder (ICD10: F2.x) almost 400 times in twelve months. The median was 15.5 visits per patient. The intervention resulted in a highly significant reduction of the rehospitalisation rate (−51%, P Conclusions Applying assessment-based Home Treatment for patients with severe psychotic disorders is an alternative treatment compared with standard care resulting in a significant lower rehospitalisation rate with an equivalent clinical outcome.