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Carer involvement in the transition from inpatient to community mental healthcare: Experiences of stakeholders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

A. Kouroupa ,
E. Petkari  and
D. Giacco
A. Kouroupa
Affiliation:
University College London, Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom
E. Petkari*
Affiliation:
Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, Health, Logroño, Spain
D. Giacco
Affiliation:
University of Warwick, Wms - Health Sciences, Warwick, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

The involvement of informal carers (family and friends) in the care of people with severe mental illness (SMI) contributes to positive clinical outcomes, such as relapse prevention and symptom reduction. To date, the care pathway between inpatient and community care is not clearly defined impeding the smooth transition for patients, whilst carers are still barely involved in shared decision-making processes.

Objectives

To investigate the views and experiences of patients with SMI, carers and clinicians regarding the transition from inpatient to community mental health services.

Methods

Four mixed focus groups were conducted with individuals with SMI (n=12), carers (n=10) and clinicians (n=9) across four different mental health catchment areas in England. Participants discussed their experiences and provided their views on facilitators, barriers and solutions for carer involvement during the transition between mental health services. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results

All stakeholders highlighted that factors that impede carer involvement are related to: confidentiality issues, unmet (structural and organisational) needs, and carer expectations. Patients with SMI, carers and clinicians agreed that carer involvement can be improved by providing psychoeducation to carers and training to staff, having accessible and transparent clinical procedures, and allocating specialised staff to carers.

Conclusions

The study findings emphasise that carer involvement is still overlooked, particularly when adults with SMI transition between services. The results provide guidance for practice emphasising the need for systematic involvement of carers across inpatient care, and for future research proposing effective ways of maximising carer involvement in mental health care.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

inpatientcarer involvementservice transitioncommunity care
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S610
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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