Characteristics of resident physicians accessing a specialised mental health service: a retrospective study

ObjectivesLittle is known about resident physicians being treated at physician health programmes around the world despite the fact that it is a highly demanding training period. This study aims to describe the profiles of resident physicians accessing a specialised mental health service in Spain over a 20-year period and to compare them to consultant-grade physicians.DesignRetrospective observational study.SettingMedical records of the Galatea Care Programme for Sick Physicians.Participants1846 physicians registered at the Barcelona Medical Council-Association and admitted to the programme from January 1998 to December 2018.Primary and secondary outcome measuresNumber of admissions, sociodemographic and clinical variables, including medical specialty, main diagnosis and need of hospitalisation.ResultsResidents accounted for 18.1% (n=335) of the sample and admissions increased over the years. Most residents (n=311; 94.5%) and consultant-grade physicians (n=1391; 92.8%) were self-referred. The most common specialty among residents was family medicine (n=107; 31.9%), followed by internal medicine (n=18; 5.4%), paediatrics (n=14; 4.2%), psychiatry (n=13; 3.9%) and anaesthesiology (n=13; 3.9%). Residents, regardless of year of training, mainly asked for help because of adjustment (n=131; 39.1%), affective (n=77; 23%), anxiety disorders (n=40; 18.8%) and addictions (n=19; 5.7%). There were no significant differences between groups in the main diagnosis and in the variables related to need of hospitalisation. The percentage of residents accessing the programme was higher than in the reference population registered at the Barcelona Medical Council-Association (18.1% vs 7.6%; z=7.2, p<0.001) as was the percentage of family medicine residents (31.9% vs 19.6%; z=5.7, p<0.001).ConclusionsResidents are more likely than consultant-grade physicians to seek help when suffering from mental disorders. Local primary prevention actions since the beginning of their training period and having access to a well-known highly reliable programme may partly explain these findings.

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Controlled trial of discharge planning by video-link in a UK urban mental health service: Responses of staff and service users

Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare ◽

10.1258/13576330260440826 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 8 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 44-46 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Paul Mclaren ◽

Sab Jegan ◽

Johanna Ahlbom ◽

Fidel Gallo ◽

Fiona Gaughran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Service ◽

Health Service ◽

Discharge Planning ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Service Users ◽

Care Programme ◽

Baseline Phase ◽

Urban Mental Health ◽

Video Link

summary We examined the use of videoconferencing in a UK urban mental health service for discharge planning within the framework of the Care Programme Approach (CPA). The study was an AB design. Baseline data were collected over three months, before the introduction of the CPA by videoconferencing. Twenty-seven CPA meetings were held in the baseline phase of the study and 23 during the video-link phase. Service users and professional participants were asked to complete the Guy's Communication Questionnaire (GCQ) at the end of the meeting. A total of 204 GCQs were completed (88% of those issued). Responses were compared between the face-to-face and video-link conditions. No significant differences were found in satisfaction measures between the two conditions. These data suggest that the video-link medium is acceptable to service users and professionals alike for discharge planning.

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A Novel Multimodal Digital Service (Moderated Online Social Therapy+) for Help-Seeking Young People Experiencing Mental Ill-Health: Pilot Evaluation Within a National Youth E-Mental Health Service

Journal of Medical Internet Research ◽

10.2196/17155 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (8) ◽

pp. e17155

Author(s):

Mario Alvarez-Jimenez ◽

Simon Rice ◽

Simon D'Alfonso ◽

Steven Leicester ◽

Sarah Bendall ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Service ◽

Young People ◽

Health Service ◽

Well Being ◽

Health Conditions ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

System Use ◽

Secondary Outcomes ◽

Perceived Helpfulness

Background Mental ill-health is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Moreover, 75% of mental health conditions emerge between the ages of 12 and 25 years. Unfortunately, due to lack of resources and limited engagement with services, a majority of young people affected by mental ill-health do not access evidence-based support. To address this gap, our team has developed a multimodal, scalable digital mental health service (Enhanced Moderated Online Social Therapy [MOST+]) merging real-time, clinician-delivered web chat counseling; interactive user-directed online therapy; expert and peer moderation; and peer-to-peer social networking. Objective The primary aim of this study is to ascertain the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of MOST+. The secondary aims are to assess pre-post changes in clinical, psychosocial, and well-being outcomes and to explore the correlations between system use, perceived helpfulness, and secondary outcome variables. Methods Overall, 157 young people seeking help from a national youth e-mental health service were recruited over 5 weeks. MOST+ was active for 9 weeks. All participants had access to interactive online therapy and integrated web chat counseling. Additional access to peer-to-peer social networking was granted to 73 participants (46.5%) for whom it was deemed safe. The intervention was evaluated via an uncontrolled single-group study. Results Overall, 93 participants completed the follow-up assessment. Most participants had moderate (52/157, 33%) to severe (96/157, 61%) mental health conditions. All a priori feasibility, acceptability, and safety criteria were met. Participants provided mean scores of ≥3.5 (out of 5) on ease of use (mean 3.7, SD 1.1), relevancy (mean 3.9, SD 1.0), helpfulness (mean 3.5, SD 0.9), and overall experience (mean 3.9, SD 0.8). Moreover, 98% (91/93) of participants reported a positive experience using MOST+, 82% (70/93) reported that using MOST+ helped them feel better, 86% (76/93) felt more socially connected using it, and 92% (86/93) said they would recommend it to others. No serious adverse events or inappropriate use were detected, and 97% (90/93) of participants reported feeling safe. There were statistically significant improvements in 8 of the 11 secondary outcomes assessed: psychological distress (d=−0.39; P<.001), perceived stress (d=−0.44; P<.001), psychological well-being (d=0.51; P<.001), depression (d=−0.29; P<.001), loneliness (d=−0.23; P=.04), social support (d=0.30; P<.001), autonomy (d=0.36; P=.001), and self-competence (d=0.30; P<.001). There were significant correlations between system use, perceived helpfulness, and a number of secondary outcome variables. Conclusions MOST+ is a feasible, acceptable, and safe online clinical service for young people with mental ill-health. The high level of perceived helpfulness, the significant improvements in secondary outcomes, and the correlations between indicators of system use and secondary outcome variables provide initial support for the therapeutic potential of MOST+. MOST+ is a promising and scalable platform to deliver standalone e-mental health services as well as enhance the growing international network of face-to-face youth mental health services.

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A Novel Multimodal Digital Service (Moderated Online Social Therapy+) for Help-Seeking Young People Experiencing Mental Ill-Health: Pilot Evaluation Within a National Youth E-Mental Health Service (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.17155 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Mario Alvarez-Jimenez ◽

Simon Rice ◽

Simon D'Alfonso ◽

Steven Leicester ◽

Sarah Bendall ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Service ◽

Young People ◽

Health Service ◽

Well Being ◽

Health Conditions ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

System Use ◽

Secondary Outcomes ◽

Perceived Helpfulness

BACKGROUND Mental ill-health is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Moreover, 75% of mental health conditions emerge between the ages of 12 and 25 years. Unfortunately, due to lack of resources and limited engagement with services, a majority of young people affected by mental ill-health do not access evidence-based support. To address this gap, our team has developed a multimodal, scalable digital mental health service (Enhanced Moderated Online Social Therapy [MOST+]) merging real-time, clinician-delivered web chat counseling; interactive user-directed online therapy; expert and peer moderation; and peer-to-peer social networking. OBJECTIVE The primary aim of this study is to ascertain the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of MOST+. The secondary aims are to assess pre-post changes in clinical, psychosocial, and well-being outcomes and to explore the correlations between system use, perceived helpfulness, and secondary outcome variables. METHODS Overall, 157 young people seeking help from a national youth e-mental health service were recruited over 5 weeks. MOST+ was active for 9 weeks. All participants had access to interactive online therapy and integrated web chat counseling. Additional access to peer-to-peer social networking was granted to 73 participants (46.5%) for whom it was deemed safe. The intervention was evaluated via an uncontrolled single-group study. RESULTS Overall, 93 participants completed the follow-up assessment. Most participants had moderate (52/157, 33%) to severe (96/157, 61%) mental health conditions. All a priori feasibility, acceptability, and safety criteria were met. Participants provided mean scores of ≥3.5 (out of 5) on ease of use (mean 3.7, SD 1.1), relevancy (mean 3.9, SD 1.0), helpfulness (mean 3.5, SD 0.9), and overall experience (mean 3.9, SD 0.8). Moreover, 98% (91/93) of participants reported a positive experience using MOST+, 82% (70/93) reported that using MOST+ helped them feel better, 86% (76/93) felt more socially connected using it, and 92% (86/93) said they would recommend it to others. No serious adverse events or inappropriate use were detected, and 97% (90/93) of participants reported feeling safe. There were statistically significant improvements in 8 of the 11 secondary outcomes assessed: psychological distress (d=−0.39; P<.001), perceived stress (d=−0.44; P<.001), psychological well-being (d=0.51; P<.001), depression (d=−0.29; P<.001), loneliness (d=−0.23; P=.04), social support (d=0.30; P<.001), autonomy (d=0.36; P=.001), and self-competence (d=0.30; P<.001). There were significant correlations between system use, perceived helpfulness, and a number of secondary outcome variables. CONCLUSIONS MOST+ is a feasible, acceptable, and safe online clinical service for young people with mental ill-health. The high level of perceived helpfulness, the significant improvements in secondary outcomes, and the correlations between indicators of system use and secondary outcome variables provide initial support for the therapeutic potential of MOST+. MOST+ is a promising and scalable platform to deliver standalone e-mental health services as well as enhance the growing international network of face-to-face youth mental health services.

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