Aftercare in the Community Health Center

Aftercare in the Community Health Center - a Venue for Identifying and Coordinating Community Services

This is a trial to examine the effects of aftercare for mental health patients in community health center (Leistad). Recruitment occurs among hospitalized patients in psychiatric hospitals (Østmarka). After discharge, patients will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: intervention group (community health center, primary care) or control group (Community mental health centers of District Psychiatric Service, specialist care).

The project's primary objective is to investigate the effect of community services on patients' functional capacity and user satisfaction after discharge. Secondly, the number of treatment days and readmissions to mental health care will be examined. The project will also compare costs of hospitalization, in psychiatric hospital and community health center respectively. Data will be collected from community health records, medical records and patient systems in psychiatric hospital, community mental health centers of District Psychiatric Service (DPS) and questionnaires filled out by patients.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mental Disorders
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Community Health center; Other: Control

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 41
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Norway
  • Trondheim, Norway, 7489
    • Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• considered by the responsible manager to have given consent
• hospitalized, diagnosed and treated such as can be continued in a District Psychiatric Service or a health center.
• stable condition, but anxiety and disruptive behavior may occur to a lesser extent.
• considered to have a perceived need for complex services from specialist health and community for a long time after discharge.

Exclusion Criteria:

• not in a stable phase thus shielding required

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Community Health center; Aftercare in a community Health center	Other: Community Health center; Observation of the functioning and coordination of health care before discharge to own home.
Active Comparator: Control; AFtercare as usual in hospital/Mental health centers of District Psychiatric Service (DPS.	Other: Control; standard aftercare in hospital/mental health centers of District Psychiatric Service (DPS).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Consumption of community health service	Measure different types of community health services in hours per week.	one year
Need for community health services	Using IPLOS (Norw. individual-based nursing and care statistics) form with 17 variables to identify patient needs	one year
User satisfaction	A qualitative analysis of interviews of 10 patients who have been admitted to the District Psychiatric Service and community health center.	one year
Need for community health services	Using individual-based nursing and care statistics (Norw. IPLOS) form with 17 variables to identify patient needs	one year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of treatment days	Number of treatment days in hospital and District Psychiatric Service compared with number of treatment days in community health center.	One year
Readmission	Readmission in hospital.	One year
The total costs of inpatient and total costs of all health care after discharge	Costs per day in hospital; Costs per day for District Psychiatric Service; Costs per day in community health center	One year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
• Collaborators: St. Olavs Hospital
• Investigators: Study Director: Aslak Steinsbekk, prof, NTNU, Department of Public Health and General Practice

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Roos E, Bjerkeset O, Steinsbekk A. Health care utilization and cost after discharge from a mental health hospital; an RCT comparing community residential aftercare and treatment as usual. BMC Psychiatry. 2018 Nov 12;18(1):363. doi: 10.1186/s12888-018-1941-2.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 30, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 31, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): November 1, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 14, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 12, 2017
• Last Verified: February 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Norway; Community Mental Health Centers; Aftercare
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2011/1770