From the Early Psychosis Intervention Program, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore.
Abstract
- Objective: To develop and apply interventions to reduce lost-to-follow-up rates in patients discharged from an early psychosis intervention program.
- Methods: A team comprising clinical staff, case managers, and patients was formed to carry out a clinical practice improvement project. Tools such as brainstorming and root cause analysis were used to derive causes of patient loss to follow-up and interventions to address them were implemented. Plan, Do, Study, and Act cycles were used to evaluate the effectiveness of identified interventions.
- Results: After the 3 interventions were implemented, there was a decrease in the default rate, and the target default rate of 0% was achieved in less than 6 months.
- Conclusion: Easily implemented program changes led to rapid and sustained improvement in reducing lost-to-follow-up rates in patients discharged from an early psychosis intervention program.
Key words: Transfusion; red blood cells; plasma; platelets; veterans.
Psychosis is a mental illness in which affected individuals lose contact with reality. The lifetime prevalence of all psychotic disorders is 3.06% [1]. The typical symptoms consist of hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and thinking and negative symptoms (apathy, avolition, alogia, affective flattening, and anhedonia). Treatment is primarily with antipsychotics and psychological and social therapies.
The key to better prognosis is shortening the duration of untreated psychoses (DUP), defined as the period of time between the onset of psychosis and initiation of adequate treatment [2]. Longer DUP is one of the poorer prognostic factors in the outcome of first episode psychosis patients [3]. Over the past 2 decades, there has been considerable interest in developing and implementing specialized treatment programs for first episode psychosis [4], and early intervention is now a well-established therapeutic approach [5]. Early intervention has 2 elements that are distinct from standard care: early detection and phase-specific treatment (phase-specific treatment is a psychological, social, or physical treatment developed, or modified, specifically for use with people at an early stage of the illness). It is not only the initial care that is important, but regular follow up in the stable phase is necessary to reduce chances of relapse.
The Early Psychosis Intervention Programme (EPIP) in Singapore is a national program whose mission is early detection of young people with early psychosis or at risk of developing a psychotic illness and engagement with these individuals and families with the aim of providing accessible, empowering, individualized, evidence-based care in a least restrictive environment. The program was initiated in April 2001 under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, Singapore. EPIP has a multidisciplinary team of doctors, case managers, occupational therapists, psychologists, family therapists, social workers, and nurses to provide a comprehensive and personalized client-centered service across inpatient, outpatient, and community settings. The program spans 3 years and has 3 phases, beginning with acute intervention, followed by the stabilization phase, and then the stable phase, which focuses on relapse prevention, healthy lifestyle, stress management and plan for transition to downstream care. The frequency of visits and interaction with the team is tailored to suit individual patient needs and phase of care and can range from every day to once every 3 months. Following the 3-year program, clients are discharged from EPIP to continuity care (community psychiatry teams).