Abstract
BackgroundShared Mental Health care between Psychiatry and Primary care has been developed to improve the care of common mental health problems but has not hitherto been adequately evaluated. The present study evaluated a consultation-liaison intervention with two objectives: to explore long-term GP opinions (relating to impact on their management and on patient medical outcome) and to determine the secondary referral rate, after a sufficient time lapse following the intervention to reflect a "real-world" primary care setting.MethodsAll the 139 collaborating GPs (response rate: 84.9%) were invited two years after the intervention to complete a retrospective telephone survey for each patient (181 patients; response rate: 69.6%).Results91.2% of GPs evaluated effects as positive for primary care management (mainly as support) and 58.9% noted positive effects for patient medical outcome. Two years post-intervention, management was shared care for 79.7% of patients (the GP as the psychiatric care provider) and care by a psychiatrist for 20.3% patients. Secondary referral occurred finally in 44.2% of cases.ConclusionThe intervention supported GP partners in their management of patients with common mental health problems. Further studies are required on the appropriateness of the care provider.
Highlights
Shared Mental Health care between Psychiatry and Primary care has been developed to improve the care of common mental health problems but has not hitherto been adequately evaluated
10 General Practitioner (GP) had moved from the area or had retired at the time of the survey
GPs referred 64.7% of the patient population concerned by the intervention (30.9% came of their own accord or were referred by their family and for 4.3%, data were not available)
Summary
Shared Mental Health care between Psychiatry and Primary care has been developed to improve the care of common mental health problems but has not hitherto been adequately evaluated. The present study evaluated a consultation-liaison intervention with two objectives: to explore long-term GP opinions (relating to impact on their management and on patient medical outcome) and to determine the secondary referral rate, after a sufficient time lapse following the intervention to reflect a "real-world" primary care setting. The care of common mental health problems, mainly provided in primary care, is known to be insufficient and to represent a major public health challenge. Collaborative care between Psychiatry and Primary care has been developed in several countries to address this problem [1,2]
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