Aims and MethodWe examined the impact of a crisis resolution and home treatment teams (CRHTT) on hospital admission rates, bed days and treatment satisfaction among older people with mental illness and their carers. We compared these factors in the 6 months before the service started and 6 months after its introduction.ResultsThe CRHTT significantly reduced admissions (P<0.001), but there was no significant difference in the length of hospital stay as compared before and after the introduction of this service. There was a trend towards carers, but not patients, being more satisfied with treatment after the introduction of the CRHTT.Clinical ImplicationsThe CRHTT reduced hospital admissions for older people by 31% and carers preferred the service. Further research on crisis teams in older people with mental illness is needed using randomised controlled methodology.
Aims and methodDispensing of methadone to individuals with opioid dependence is a discretionary service and many independent pharmacies remain unwilling to do this. We aimed to determine whether there was any correlation between negative stigmatised attitude towards these individuals and the likelihood of methadone dispensing. The 20-point Attitude to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) was used to assess stigmatised attitudes in a cluster randomised sample of managers of community pharmacies in England.ResultsThe response rate was 66%. The AMIQ stigma scores had a median difference of 1 and effect size of 0.42 in favour of those pharmacies which dispensed methadone (mean = 0.53; n = 138) compared with those who did not (mean = 0.93; n = 69; P <0.001).Clinical implicationsThe results show a clear behavioural distinction (discrimination) based on stigmatised attitudes towards individuals with opioid dependence. This may arise because managers with stigmatised attitudes refuse to dispense methadone to this group. Conversely, familiarity with these individuals may have a de-stigmatising effect.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.