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Home-based treatment in Monaghan: the first two years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

MacDara McCauley
Affiliation:
Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, Dublin 22, Ireland
Siobhan Rooney
Affiliation:
Special interest in Substance Misuse, St. Loman's Hospital, Mullingar, Westmeath, Ireland
Ciaran Clarke
Affiliation:
Mater Hospital, Eccles St. Dublin 7, Ireland
Teresa Carey
Affiliation:
St. Davnet's Hospital Monaghan, Ireland
John Owens
Affiliation:
St. Davnet's Hospital Monaghan, Ireland

Abstract

Objectives: To describe a home-based treatment (HBT) service. To profile the patient population using HBT. To determine why HBT was used and to record disposal.

Method: All patients treated by HBT during the first two years of this new service were identified from the HBT logbook. A checklist recording demographic, diagnostic, presenting complaint data and details of HBT contact was used to analyse the patients' charts. A statistical package JMP was used to analyse the data.

Results: Two hundred and six patients (275 episodes) were treated using HBT. These were 101 (49.1 %) males and 105 (50.9%) females. Of these, 89 (43.2%) were single. Forty-eight (19.4%) lived alone and 53 (25.7%) were unemployed. The most common presenting complaint was severe depression (39.3%). A depressive disorder was the most frequent diagnosis (28.7%). Twenty six (13%) episodes of HBT ended in admission. One hundred and eighty five (67.3%) were referred to outpatients and 26 (9.5%) were discharged to the GP.

Conclusions: Home-based treatment is feasible for a wide range of patients with an array of presenting complaints. This model of service delivery is viable in a rural setting. Admission will still be required for some patients. Further work is needed to examine its sustainability and its generalisability to other Irish settings.

Type
Original Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2000

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