The role of the Mobile Mental Health Units in mental healthcare delivery in rural areas in Greece: current challenges and prospects

Peritogiannis, Vaios; Fragouli-Sakellaropoulou, Athina; Stavrogiannopoulos, Marios; Filla, Iliana; Garmpi, Aikaterini; Pantelidou, Stella; Samakouri, Maria

doi:10.22365/jpsych.2022.084

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In rural and remote areas in Greece, mental healthcare in the community is primarily provided by locally based Mobile Mental Health Units (MMHUs) [ 33 , 34 ]. These interdisciplinary teams offer a wide range of evidence-based community interventions for patients with mental disorders, with a focus on severely ill patients, including those with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder [ 35 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics in a Clinical Sample of Community-Dwelling Patients with Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders in Rural Greece

Peritogiannis¹,

Tsoli²,

Gioti³

et al. 2023

JCM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Data on the use of long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) in rural community mental healthcare settings are scarce. This study aimed to investigate the prescription patterns of LAIs in a clinical sample of patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in rural Greece. All patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders who regularly attend the Mobile Mental Health Unit of the prefectures of Ioannina and Thesprotia (MMHU I-T) in northwestern Greece were included in the study. The sample consists of 87 patients (59 males and 28 females) with a mean age of 54.4 years and a mean illness duration of 28 years. Most patients (72.4%) received antipsychotic monotherapy, and nearly 30% received an LAI formulation, mostly a second-generation LAI (20 of 26 patients, 76.9%). The treatment regimen comprised benzodiazepines in one-third of the patients and antidepressants in one-quarter. There was no statistically significant association between treatment regimen and the clinical and demographic variables studied, except for biological sex (female). The percentage of patients treated with LAIs in this study was almost three times higher than the rate previously reported in Greece and is higher than the rates reported in other countries. Patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in rural Greece may have adequate access to innovative treatment with second-generation LAIs. Further research is needed to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of LAI treatment in rural communities and to elucidate the factors associated with such treatment.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics in a Clinical Sample of Community-Dwelling Patients with Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders in Rural Greece

Peritogiannis¹,

Tsoli²,

Gioti³

et al. 2023

JCM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In order for the MMHUs in rural Greece to further establish their role within the existing mental healthcare system, they have set several goals and pursuits that have been described in the recently published position paper of the coordinating committee of the MMHUs [29]. The commitment of the MMHUs involves the participation in relative forums and bodies; participation in the annual panhellenic psychiatric congress and organization of their own congress; and continuation of research.…”

Section: Future Goals and Pursuitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobile Mental Health Units in Greece: Bridging Clinical Practice and Research in the Rural Context

Peritogiannis¹,

Samakouri

2023

Psych

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To address these barriers in mental healthcare delivery in rural areas, the Greek state has launched a number of generic community mental health teams over the last decades, the so-called Mobile Mental Health Units (MMHUs) with the aim of delivering services in remote and underserved areas of the mainland and the numerous Greek islands (Peritogiannis, 2019; Peritogiannis, Papathanasiou & Giotakos, 2022; Samakouri et al, 2022). The MMHUs have been successfully integrated within the primary healthcare system and treat all referred patients, although they prioritize patients with severe mental disorders (Peritogiannis, Fragouli-Sakellaropoulou, Stavrogiannopoulos, Filla et al, 2022; Peritogiannis & Mavreas, 2014). It has been shown that treatment of patients with severe mental illness in the MMHUs may significantly decrease hospitalizations and length of hospital stay (Garbi et al, 2021; Peritogiannis et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First-contact patients with a community mental health service in rural Greece: A 3-year prospective study of treatment attendance and its co-relations

Grammeniati,

Mantziou,

Peritogiannis

2024

Int J Soc Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Treatment continuation is essential for the optimal management of patients with mental disorders in the community, but treatment and outcome are often undermined by the high rates of service disengagement and treatment non-adherence across all psychiatric diagnoses. The phenomenon may be even more relevant in rural settings. Aims: The aim of the present study was to explore attendance to treatment in first-contact patients in a community-based treatment setting in rural Greece and to explore the associations of treatment attendance with demographic and clinical factors. Method: Data were collected prospectively over a 3-year period, with 1-year follow-up interval. All first-contact cases with the Mobile Mental Health Unit of the prefectures of Ioannina and Thesprotia (MMHU I-T), Northwest Greece were considered, but only clinical cases were processed. Results: The sample size consisted of 446 patients, with a mean age 65.4 ± 18.8 years. The rate of 12-month attendance to mental health treatment was 13.5% (60 out of 446 patients). Treatment attendance was found to be correlated with younger age, the diagnosis of schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, and patients’ referral by other psychiatric services. First examination over the year 2019 had been significantly inversely associated with treatment engagement. Conclusion: Rates of subsequent attendance after initial assessment in a rural community mental healthcare setting were rather low in the present study. Several variables that have been previously associated with service engagement were found to be related in this study too, whereas other were not. Research on treatment engagement in rural treatment settings should be ongoing to reveal all associated factors.

show abstract

The role of the Mobile Mental Health Units in mental healthcare delivery in rural areas in Greece: current challenges and prospects

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Use of Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics in a Clinical Sample of Community-Dwelling Patients with Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders in Rural Greece

Use of Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics in a Clinical Sample of Community-Dwelling Patients with Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders in Rural Greece

Mobile Mental Health Units in Greece: Bridging Clinical Practice and Research in the Rural Context

First-contact patients with a community mental health service in rural Greece: A 3-year prospective study of treatment attendance and its co-relations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About