A Method to Compare the Delivery of Psychiatric Care for People with Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia

Esquizofrènia resistent al tractament; Tecnologies de la informació i la comunicació (TIC); Serveis de salut mentalEsquizofrenia resistente al tratamiento; Tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC); Servicios de salud mentalTreatment-resistant schizophrenia; Information and communication technologies (ICT); Mental health servicesIntroduction: Community services are gaining ground when it comes to attention to patients with psychiatric diseases. Regarding patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), the use of information and communication technology (ICT) could help to shift the focus from hospital-centered attention to community services. This study compares the differences in mental health services provided for patients with TRS in Budapest (Hungary), Tel-Aviv (Israel) and Catalonia (Spain) by means of a method for the quick appraisal of gaps among the three places, for a potential implementation of the same ICT tool in these regions. Methods: An adapted version of the Description and Standardised Evaluation of Services and Directories in Europe for Long Term Care (DESDE-LTC) instrument was made by researchers in Semmelweis University (Budapest, Hungary), Gertner Institute (Tel-Aviv, Israel) and Hospital de la Santa Creu I Sant Pau and Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu (Catalonia, Spain). Results: Two types of outpatient care services were available in the three regions. Only one type of day-care facility was common in the whole study area. Two residential care services, one for acute and the other for non-acute patients were available in every region. Finally, two self-care and volunteer-care facilities were available in the three places. Conclusion: Although the availability of services was different in each region, most of the services provided were sufficiently similar to allow the implementation of the same ICT solution in the three places.This work has been supported by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union (grant number 643552). This research was also funded by ONA CORPORATION

A Method to Compare the Delivery of Psychiatric Care for People with Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia

Abstract Introduction: Community services are gaining ground when it comes to attention to patients with psychiatric diseases. Regarding patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), the use of information and communication technology (ICT) could help to shift the focus from hospital-centered attention to community services. This study compares the differences in mental health services provided for patients with TRS in Budapest (Hungary), Tel-Aviv (Israel) and Catalonia (Spain) by means of a method for the quick appraisal of gaps among the three places, for a potential implementation of the same ICT tool in these regions. Methods: An adapted version of the Description and Standardised Evaluation of Services and Directories in Europe for Long Term Care (DESDE-LTC) instrument was made by researchers in Semmelweis University (Budapest, Hungary), Gertner Institute (Tel-Aviv, Israel) and Hospital de la Santa Creu I Sant Pau and Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu (Catalonia, Spain). Results: Two types of outpatient care services were available in the three regions. Only one type of day-care facility was common in the whole study area. Two residential care services, one for acute and the other for non-acute patients were available in every region. Finally, two self-care and volunteer-care facilities were available in the three places. Conclusion: Although the availability of services was different in each region, most of the services provided were sufficiently similar to allow the implementation of the same ICT solution in the three places.The m-RESIST Group is composed of: Francisco Alcalde Enrico d’Amico Caritat Almazán Anna Alonso-Solís Jesús Berdún István Bitter Walter Baccinelli Chiara Bonizzi María Bulgheroni Johanna Caro Mendivelso Asaf Caspi Tanguy Coenen Anat Cohen Xavier Constant Iluminada Corripio Marisol Escobar Kinga Farkas Kata Fazekas Yoram Feldman Emmanuel Gimenez Shenja van der Graaf Eva Grasa Levente Herman Margarita Hospedales Elena Huerta-Ramos Matti Isohanni Erika Jääskeläinen Charlotte Jewel Teija Juola Timo Jämsä Rachelle Kaye Panagiotis Kokkinakis Hannu J. Koponen Silvia Marcó Gregoris Mentzas Jouko Miettunen Jani Moilanen Susana Ochoa Ilias Papas Fotis Paraskevopoulos Elisabeth Reixach Alexandra Roldán Katya Rubinstein Elena Rubio-Abadal Garifalia Sebú Annika Seppälä Jussi Seppälä Valentina Simonetti Matthias Stevens Vittorio Tauro Anna Triantafillou Zsolt Szabolcs Unoka Judith Usall Vincenzo Vella David Vermeir Ilaria de Vit

Advanced Parental Age at Birth Is Associated With Poorer Social Functioning in Adolescent Males: Shedding Light on a Core Symptom of Schizophrenia and Autism

Background: Evidence indicates an association between older parents at birth and increased risk for schizophrenia and autism. Patients with schizophrenia and autism and their first-degree relatives have impaired social functioning; hence, impaired social functioning is probably an intermediate phenotype of the illness. This study tested the hypothesis that advanced father's age at birth would be associated with poorer social functioning in the general population. To test this hypothesis, we examined the association between parental age at birth and the social functioning of their adolescent male offspring in a population-based study. Methods: Subjects were 403 486, 16- to 17-year-old Israeli-born male adolescents assessed by the Israeli Draft Board. The effect of parental age on social functioning was assessed in analyses controlling for cognitive functioning, the other parent's age, parental socioeconomic status, birth order, and year of draft board assessment. Results: Compared with offspring of parents aged 25–29 years, the prevalence of poor social functioning was increased both in offspring of fathers younger than 20 years (odds ratio [OR] = 1.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08–1.49) and in offspring of fathers 45 years old (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.43–1.61). Male adolescent children of mothers aged 40 years and above were 1.15 (95% CI = 1.07–1.24) times more likely to have poor social functioning. Conclusions: These modest associations between parental age and poor social functioning in the general population parallel the associations between parental age and risk for schizophrenia and autism and suggest that the risk pathways between advanced parental age and schizophrenia and autism might, at least partially, include mildly deleterious effects on social functioning