Process of implementation and development of early psychosis clinical services in Italy: a survey

Abstract

Our data are consistent with worldwide literature showing a slow and variable implementation of early psychosis services in all nations. The main efforts to make these services diffused should be addressed to favour the process of localized adaptation to the guidelines, to demand possible and realistic implementation of the standard method, to stimulate policy endorsement and resources' allocation, and to particularly support the rural and the poorer zones.

Attitudes of Mental Health Workers Towards Early Interventions in Psychiatry

“…Despite this, only a small part of respondents (about a third) reported that EI protocols were operational in the context of their services, in most cases for patients with psychotic disorders. This is consistent with previous studies indicating a slow diffusion of early interventions in Italy (Cocchi et al, 2011a;Ghio et al, 2012).…”

“…This problem seems to be present on a worldwide scale, as even in Australia, which was one of the first countries to start a reform towards EI, implementation has been affected by insufficient allocation of resources to appropriately support the reform focus (Catts et al, 2010). In this regard, it should be also noted that the Italian EI services are being mostly developed according to a "specialist within generalist team" model (Cocchi et al, 2011a;Ghio et al, 2012), mainly due to lack of funding and in contrast with other experiences that favor the implementation of specific and independent outpatient services (Edwards et al, 2002).…”

“…However, we also considered that, given the scarce dissemination of basic evidencebased knowledge on EI in Italy (Cocchi et al, 2011a;Ghio et al, 2012), the aforementioned setting could be more suitable to collect information from sources that had been exposed to at least a basic set of information to form their opinions.…”

“…institutions attempted to develop ad hoc services for the early treatment of psychosis , but this process has shown enormous variability across and within countries and economic resources were often insufficient to support this reform (Catts et al, 2010, Ghio et al, 2012. Besides these issues, the implementation of EI programs might have encountered barriers that were related to personal attitudes or to "cultural resistance" of mental health workers.…”

Essential components of early intervention programs for psychosis: Available intervention services in the United States

“…Research findings support a number of key elements of early intervention programs, yet there is variability in their implementation (Catts et al, 2010;Ghio et al, 2012;McGorry et al, 2008;Srihari et al, 2012). Some programs stress the importance of case management, while others focus on medication or social and functional recovery (Garety et al, 2006;Spencer et al, 2001).…”