Crisis in the psychiatric patient: A structured illness-management-oriented group intervention

Abstract

Introduction

Crisis prevention and management of the psychiatric patient have obtained a central role in the policies of Mental Health Services. In this context, Mental Health Centre of Ravenna has launched a “Crisis Center”, a rehabilitation group project applied to three types of users: users in an early stage of crisis, users in a post-critical stage and users at high risk of crisis. Intervention was based on the Illness Management and Recovery practice, an evidence-based program which consists in social skills training activities, emotions management, symptom management, coping skills training, psycho-education and, more generally, supporting users in their personal recovery process.

Objective

Objectives of this project is to prevent crisis and hospitalization and to provide an alternative to institutionalization for mental health users.

Aims

The aims of this study was to analyze and show effects and results of the project, in its first three years of life.

Methods

Through the database “Infoclin”, we analyzed data of 94 users who took part in the project between January 2012 and December 2014.

Results

Analysis showed, primarily, that out of 94 users, 64 (68%) have not needed hospitalization in the following two years after intervention. Furthermore, out of 39 users with a history of one or more hospitalizations at time of entry, 22 (56.4%) have not needed hospitalization in the next two years.

Conclusions

Despite the low number of users analyzed, it is believed that this study should be considered a further evidence of the positive effects of the IMR practice within mental health services.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.