College of Medicine and Public Health, 1065Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia; and Consortium of Australian-Academic Psychiatrists for Independent Policy Research and Analysis (CAPIPRA), Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Centre for Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Australas Psychiatry. 2022 Dec;30(6):701-704. doi: 10.1177/10398562221108917. Epub 2022 Jun 16.
Australia is piloting a stand-alone early intervention programme for psychosis, based on the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) model that was developed within mainstream Victorian State Government psychiatric services. The Australian early intervention programme is located in primary care, and badged as ' Early Psychosis Youth Services'. There are currently six metropolitan early intervention services with two further services planned for the 2023 Financial Year. We discuss key findings from an external evaluation of the first six services, released by the Australian Government Department of Health under a Freedom of Information request.
Early Psychosis Youth Services received high ratings for patient satisfaction and engagement, which was associated with symptomatic improvement and functional recovery. However, governance was complicated, costs were relatively high, and caseload targets were not met. The cost for an additional year of good quality life was estimated at AUD 318,954, which exceeds the usual thresholds for defining a 'good buy'. Integrated models should be investigated, as they seem in principle to offer efficiencies and improved continuity of care.
澳大利亚正在试点一个独立的精神病早期干预计划，该计划基于在主流维多利亚州政府精神病服务中开发的早期精神病预防和干预中心（EPPIC）模式。澳大利亚的早期干预计划位于初级保健领域，并被标记为“早期精神病青年服务”。目前有六个大都市早期干预服务，计划在 2023 财年再增加两个服务。我们根据澳大利亚政府卫生部根据信息自由请求发布的外部评估，讨论了前六个服务的主要发现。
早期精神病青年服务在患者满意度和参与度方面获得了很高的评价，这与症状改善和功能恢复有关。然而，治理较为复杂，成本相对较高，且病例数目标未达到。估计额外一年高质量生活的成本为 318954 澳元，超过了通常定义“物有所值”的阈值。应研究整合模式，因为它们原则上似乎提供了效率和更好的护理连续性。
