Illness careers and continuity of care in mental health services: A qualitative study of service users and carers

Service users' views of moving on from early intervention services for psychosis: a longitudinal qualitative study in primary care

“…This concept has been used in a number of studies in mental health settings, to highlight the relationships that are formed and changed as individuals negotiate the system. 11,12 Methodologically, a longitudinal qualitative approach was chosen since this reflects the study's conceptual framework and enables a better understanding of evolving experiences. [13][14][15] Study setting and participants The sampling frame for this study was the cohort of service users recruited into the National EDEN study of early intervention services.…”

“…12,19,20 Previous qualitative studies in the UK have found that service users emphasise the importance of building a long-term relationship with a professional and express frustration at having to repeatedly review their medical histories during transition periods. 19 In the US, qualitative data from interviews with adults with psychosis (mean age 48 years) found that competent trustworthy doctors were most valued, and when the 'fit' with clinicians was good, ongoing relationships over a period of time led to better illness and medication management.…”

“…In the UK ECHO (Experiences of Continuity of Care and Health and Social Outcomes) study, Jones and colleagues explored continuity of care in mental health services for service users with serious mental illness, and highlighted the difficulties of definition, fragility of continuity, and importance of professionals personalising transitions. 12 They also suggested that face-to-face communications between community mental health teams and GPs were facilitators of informational continuity. 21 However, transitions between early intervention services and primary care do appear to be better than other transition points in a mental health service user's illness career.…”

The Bond We Share: Experiences of Caring for a Person with Mental and Physical Health Conditions

“…They mirror many of the fears, dilemmas and concerns highlighted in other international studies [21,35,69,74]. Likewise, other studies have spoken at length about the personal impact on carers in managing day-to-day care of the person and enduring the caring process [14.32-34,37,41].…”

“…Participants' comments fell into 9 main themes, many that mirror themes found in the existing research literature, such as the day-to-day experience, burden, grief and loss, obligation, problems with communication of needs with services, personal growth, strained relationships with others, and impacts on their own health and wellbeing [37,40,41,62,63,69,70]. These themes were:…”