Assessment of the Mobile Mental Health Units' effectiveness in Cyclades islands

Lykomitrou, Aikaterini; Stylianidis, Stelios; Geitona, Mary; Pantelidou, Stella; Souliotis, Kyriakos

doi:10.22365/jpsych.2021.031

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…Another recent study concerns the decrease of hospitalizations and length of hospital stay in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders treated by the Mobile Mental Health Unit of Ioannina and Thesprotia (MMHU I-T) [9]. Lykomitrou et al (2021) proposed that the expansion of flexible and alternative community-based interventions, such as MMHUs, constitute a best practice both for obtaining higher clinical outcomes and for facing regional inefficiencies related to population's access to healthcare [29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decrease of Hospitalizations and Length of Hospital Stay in Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders or Bipolar Disorder Treated in a Mobile Mental Health Service in Insular Greece

Garbi¹,

Tiniakos²,

Mikelatou³

et al. 2021

Psych

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In recent years serious mental health issues, such as schizophrenia spectrum disorders and bipolar disorder, have been treated in the community by community-based mental health services. In the present study our goal was to estimate the modification in the number of hospitalizations and duration of admissions in either psychotic patients or patients with bipolar disorder, treated by a Mobile Mental Health Unit in the islands of Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Ithaca (MMHU-KZI). Data were collected from a total of 108 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and bipolar disorder. For each patient comparison was made for the same time interval prior and after engagement to treatment with the MMHU-KZI and not for the total hospitalizations that patients had in their history. There was a statistically significant reduction (45.9%) in hospitalizations after treatment engagement with the MMHU-KZI, as the Wilcoxon signed ranks test indicated. Furthermore, a major decrease (54.5%) of hospitalization days was noted after treatment engagement with the unit. This pattern of mental health provision may be beneficial for the reduction of the number and duration of psychiatric hospitalizations. Despite the beneficial contribution of community-based mental health units, hospital based treatment should always be available, since severe relapses are better treated in inpatient setting.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decrease of Hospitalizations and Length of Hospital Stay in Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders or Bipolar Disorder Treated in a Mobile Mental Health Service in Insular Greece

Garbi¹,

Tiniakos²,

Mikelatou³

et al. 2021

Psych

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“…In general, research in the context of MMHUs is scarce and has been mostly conducted on islands [10][11][12] and on one site on the mainland [13][14][15][16]. Notably, most studies are single-center, which may limit the generalizability of their findings [17].…”

Section: Fragmentation In Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobile Mental Health Units in Greece: Bridging Clinical Practice and Research in the Rural Context

Peritogiannis¹,

Samakouri

2023

Psych

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“…It has been shown that treatment of patients with severe mental illness in the MMHUs may significantly decrease hospitalizations and length of hospital stay (Garbi et al, 2021; Peritogiannis et al, 2020). Other recent research addressed the cost-effectiveness of the MMHUs and found positive results (Lykomitrou et al, 2020), whereas other studies suggested that the treatment in the MMHUs may reduce disability in patients with common mental disorders (Lykomitrou et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First-contact patients with a community mental health service in rural Greece: A 3-year prospective study of treatment attendance and its co-relations

Grammeniati,

Mantziou,

Peritogiannis

2024

Int J Soc Psychiatry

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Background: Treatment continuation is essential for the optimal management of patients with mental disorders in the community, but treatment and outcome are often undermined by the high rates of service disengagement and treatment non-adherence across all psychiatric diagnoses. The phenomenon may be even more relevant in rural settings. Aims: The aim of the present study was to explore attendance to treatment in first-contact patients in a community-based treatment setting in rural Greece and to explore the associations of treatment attendance with demographic and clinical factors. Method: Data were collected prospectively over a 3-year period, with 1-year follow-up interval. All first-contact cases with the Mobile Mental Health Unit of the prefectures of Ioannina and Thesprotia (MMHU I-T), Northwest Greece were considered, but only clinical cases were processed. Results: The sample size consisted of 446 patients, with a mean age 65.4 ± 18.8 years. The rate of 12-month attendance to mental health treatment was 13.5% (60 out of 446 patients). Treatment attendance was found to be correlated with younger age, the diagnosis of schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, and patients’ referral by other psychiatric services. First examination over the year 2019 had been significantly inversely associated with treatment engagement. Conclusion: Rates of subsequent attendance after initial assessment in a rural community mental healthcare setting were rather low in the present study. Several variables that have been previously associated with service engagement were found to be related in this study too, whereas other were not. Research on treatment engagement in rural treatment settings should be ongoing to reveal all associated factors.

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Assessment of the Mobile Mental Health Units' effectiveness in Cyclades islands

Cited by 5 publications

References 26 publications

Decrease of Hospitalizations and Length of Hospital Stay in Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders or Bipolar Disorder Treated in a Mobile Mental Health Service in Insular Greece

Decrease of Hospitalizations and Length of Hospital Stay in Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders or Bipolar Disorder Treated in a Mobile Mental Health Service in Insular Greece

Mobile Mental Health Units in Greece: Bridging Clinical Practice and Research in the Rural Context

First-contact patients with a community mental health service in rural Greece: A 3-year prospective study of treatment attendance and its co-relations

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