The perception of needs for care in staff and patients in community-based mental health services. The South-Verona Outcome Project 3.

OBJECTIVE

The present study aims to assess needs for care rated by patients and staff and their agreement on needs assessment in a community-based mental health service by using the Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN).

METHOD

The Italian version of the CAN was used in a sample of 247 patient-staff pairs.

RESULTS

Patients and staff showed poor agreement on both the presence of a need and on whether need had been met or not. Higher disability predicted a higher number of patient-rated needs, while higher disability, higher number of service contacts and patient unemployment predicted a higher number of staff-rated needs. Lower global functioning predicted higher disagreement in patients and staff ratings of needs.

CONCLUSION

Patients and staff show different perceptions of needs for care and therefore multiple perspectives should be taken into account for planning and providing effective needs-led mental health care.