Empowering patients can lead to fewer hospital readmissions, according to small RCT

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Clarissa Giebel presents the findings of a small RCT that evaluates the impact of a social work care coordination intervention on hospital readmissions in older adults.

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Does staying in hospital longer make you better?

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De-institutionalisation, the advent of community care and development of psychotropic medicines are implicated in the reduction in hospital bed numbers and mean length of stay. There remains a huge variance in length of stay and outcomes across the UK and beyond (NHS Confederation, 2011). Figures on length of stay and service configuration are difficult to [read the full story…]

How to reduce psychiatric readmission in young adults: opportunities and possibilities from the latest interventions

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The successful transition from inpatient to outpatient psychiatric care is an important step along the road to recovery. It can be a difficult and turbulent time for patients, so much so that there is a risk that patients will suffer a relapse of their illness and need to be readmitted into hospital (Herman, Mattke, Somekh [read the full story…]

Treatment of bipolar in specialised outpatient mood disorder clinics substantially reduces readmissions to psychiatric hospitals

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There is a limited amount of good quality research being published about bipolar disorder, particularly investigating the early stages. Bipolar is associated with a high risk of relapse and this risk of relapse increases with the number of previous episodes. Observational studies suggest that early intervention may improve both course and outcome, but currently progression [read the full story…]

German cohort study finds no support for superiority of atypical antipsychotics in schizophrenia

It is possible that those who were disengaging from interventions such as medication were less likely to take part in the study.

Schizophrenia according to the NICE guidelines, is a relatively common illness and in the majority of cases takes a chronic course, requiring continued management and careful attention.  In the treatment and management of schizophrenia, antipsychotic medications – like olanzapine, quetiapine or clozapine – are the first line intervention. Antipsychotics can be loosely divided into “first-generation” (“typical”) and [read the full story…]

Critical time intervention reduces psychiatric rehospitalisation in homeless people

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Recent work by Suzanne Fitzpatrick and colleagues from Heriot Watt University has investigated the experiences of people who are affected by what they call multiple exclusion homelessness; a combination of homelessness, substance misuse, ‘street’ activities such as begging and street drinking, and institutional care (e.g. prison). Their quantitative survey shows that there is considerable overlap [read the full story…]

The majority of schizophrenia patients in Finland stop taking their antipsychotics within 60 days of discharge

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We know that many people who take antipsychotic drugs find it difficult to cope with the side effects of the medication and this often leads to them stopping their treatment. This large Finish cohort study examines the risks of rehospitalisation and drug discontinuation in patients recently diagnosed with schizophrenia who have been prescribed antipsychotics. The [read the full story…]