The Camberwell Assessment of Need: The Validity and Reliability of an Instrument to Assess the Needs of People with Severe Mental Illness

1995 ◽  
Vol 167 (5) ◽  
pp. 589-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Phelan ◽  
Mike Slade ◽  
Graham Thornicroft ◽  
Graham Dunn ◽  
Frank Holloway ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Complete Agreement ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Camberwell Assessment Of Need ◽  
Test Retest Reliability ◽  
Assessment Of Need

BackgroundPeople with severe mental illness often have a complex mixture of clinical and social needs. The Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN) is a new instrument which has been designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of these needs. There are two versions of the instrument: the clinical version has been designed to be used by staff to plan patients' care; whereas the research version is primarily a mental health service evaluation tool. The CAN has been designed to assist local authorities to fulfil their statutory obligations under the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 to assess needs for community services.MethodA draft version of the instrument was designed by the authors. Modifications were made following comments from mental health experts and a patient survey. Patients (n = 49) and staff (n = 60) were then interviewed, using the amended version, to assess the inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the instrument.ResultsThe mean number of needs identified per patient ranged from 7.55 to 8.64. Correlations of the inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the total number of needs identified by staff were 0.99 and 0.78 respectively. The percentage of complete agreement on individual items ranged from 100–81.6% (inter-rater) and 100–58.1% (test-retest).ConclusionsThe study suggests that the CAN is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the needs of people with severe mental illness. It is easily learnt by staff from a range of professional backgrounds, and a complete assessment took, on average, around 25 minutes.

Comparing needs assessed by staff and by service users: paternalism or partnership in mental health?

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Thornicroft ◽  
Mike Slade
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Camberwell Assessment Of Need ◽  
Assessment Of Need

This paper examines two questions. Do staff and service users agree when rating the needs of those with severe mental illness? If not, what is the meaning of these differences? To put these questions in context, we shall define needs, examine one particular way in which needs can be measured in a standardised way, using the Camberwell Assessment of Need, and shall discuss three somewhat similar studies which have compared user and staff rated needs.

The health service contact patterns of people with psychotic and non-psychotic forms of severe mental illness in New South Wales, Australia: A record-linkage study

2021 ◽  
pp. 000486742110314
Author(s):  
Rachael C Cvejic ◽  
Preeyaporn Srasuebkul ◽  
Adrian R Walker ◽  
Simone Reppermund ◽  
Julia M Lappin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
New South ◽  
Service Utilisation ◽  
South Wales

Objective: To describe and compare the health profiles and health service use of people hospitalised with severe mental illness, with and without psychotic symptoms. Methods: We conducted a historical cohort study using linked administrative datasets, including data on public hospital admissions, emergency department presentations and ambulatory mental health service contacts in New South Wales, Australia. The study cohort comprised 169,306 individuals aged 12 years and over who were hospitalised at least once with a mental health diagnosis between 1 July 2002 and 31 December 2014. Of these, 63,110 had a recorded psychotic illness and 106,196 did not. Outcome measures were rates of hospital, emergency department and mental health ambulatory service utilisation, analysed using Poisson regression. Results: People with psychotic illnesses had higher rates of hospital admission (adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.26; 95% confidence interval [1.23, 1.30]), emergency department presentation (adjusted IRR 1.17; 95% confidence interval [1.13, 1.20]) and ambulatory mental health treatment days (adjusted IRR 2.90; 95% confidence interval [2.82, 2.98]) than people without psychotic illnesses. The higher rate of hospitalisation among people with psychotic illnesses was driven by mental health admissions; while people with psychosis had over twice the rate of mental health admissions, people with other severe mental illnesses without psychosis (e.g. mood/affective, anxiety and personality disorders) had higher rates of physical health admissions, including for circulatory, musculoskeletal, genitourinary and respiratory disorders. Factors that predicted greater health service utilisation included psychosis, intellectual disability, greater medical comorbidity and previous hospitalisation. Conclusion: Findings from this study support the need for (a) the development of processes to support the physical health of people with severe mental illness, including those without psychosis; (b) a focus in mental health policy and service provision on people with complex support needs, and (c) improved implementation and testing of integrated models of care to improve health outcomes for all people experiencing severe mental illness.

Acute mental health service use by patients with severe mental illness after discharge to primary care in South London

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 208-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parashar P Ramanuj ◽  
Carlos FA Carvalho ◽  
Robert Harland ◽  
Philippa A Garety ◽  
Tom KJ Craig ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Service Use ◽  
Mental Health Service Use ◽  
Health Service Use

Are people with severe mental illness ready for online interventions? Access and use of the Internet in Australian mental health service users

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Thomas ◽  
Fiona Foley ◽  
Katrina Lindblom ◽  
Stuart Lee
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Health Service Delivery ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Mental Health Service Delivery

Objectives: The Internet is increasingly used in mental health service delivery, but there are significant potential barriers to Internet access for persons with severe mental illness (SMI). There is a need to understand this group’s access to, and confidence with using, the Internet, and current views on using online resources as part of mental healthcare. Method: A survey was conducted of 100 consumers attending a specialist mental health service in Melbourne, Australia. Results: Approximately three-quarters of participants had regular access to the Internet, and two-thirds used the Internet weekly or more. Half of the sample used email at least weekly, and a third were regular users of social networking sites. Internet access was often via mobile devices. Only a minority of participants used the Internet for mental health information, with video streaming and general websites accessed more often than peer forums for mental health content. Most participants were positive about their mental health worker using tablet computers with them in appointments for delivery of mental health materials. Conclusion: Most people with SMI are active Internet users and, therefore, able to use interventions online.

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