Psychiatric University Hospitals of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
BMC Psychiatry. 2023 Oct 2;23(1):706. doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-05201-0.
Evidence-based assessment (EBA) in mental health is a critical aspect of improving patient outcomes and addressing the gaps in mental health care. EBA involves the use of psychometric instruments to gather data that can inform clinical decision-making, inform policymakers, and serve as a basis for research and quality management. Despite its potential, EBA is often hindered by barriers such as workload and cost, leading to its underutilization. Regarding low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), the implementation of EBA is recognized as a key strategy to address and close the prevalent mental health treatment gap.To simplify the application of EBA including in LMIC, an international team of researchers and practitioners from Tanzania, Kosovo, Chile, and Switzerland developed the Mental Health Information Reporting Assistant (MHIRA). MHIRA is an open-source electronic health record that streamlines EBA by digitising psychometric instruments and organising patient data in a user-friendly manner. It provides immediate and convenient reports to inform clinical decision-making.The current article provides a comprehensive overview of the features and technical details of MHIRA, as well as insights from four implementation scenarios. The experience gained during the implementations as well as the user-feedback suggests that MHIRA has the potential to be successfully implemented in a variety of clinical contexts and simplify the use of EBA. However, further research is necessary to establish its potential to sustainably transform healthcare services and impact patient outcomes.In conclusion, MHIRA represents an important step in promoting the widespread adoption of EBA in mental health. It offers a promising solution to the barriers that have limited the use of EBA in the past and holds the potential to improve patient outcomes and support the ongoing efforts to address gaps in mental health care.
循证评估（EBA）在精神健康领域是改善患者预后和解决精神卫生保健差距的关键环节。EBA 涉及使用心理计量学工具来收集数据，这些数据可以为临床决策提供信息，为政策制定者提供信息，并作为研究和质量管理的基础。尽管 EBA 具有潜力，但由于工作量和成本等障碍，其应用往往受到限制，导致其未得到充分利用。对于低收入和中等收入国家（LMIC）来说，实施 EBA 被认为是解决和缩小普遍存在的精神卫生治疗差距的关键策略。为了简化 EBA 的应用，包括在 LMIC 中的应用，来自坦桑尼亚、科索沃、智利和瑞士的国际研究人员和从业者团队开发了精神健康信息报告助手（MHIRA）。MHIRA 是一种开源电子健康记录，通过数字化心理计量学工具并以用户友好的方式组织患者数据，简化了 EBA 的应用。它提供即时和方便的报告，为临床决策提供信息。本文全面介绍了 MHIRA 的特点和技术细节，以及来自四个实施场景的见解。实施过程中获得的经验和用户反馈表明，MHIRA 有可能在各种临床环境中成功实施，并简化 EBA 的使用。然而，需要进一步的研究来确定其可持续性改变医疗服务和影响患者预后的潜力。总之，MHIRA 代表了在精神卫生领域推广广泛采用 EBA 的重要一步。它为过去限制 EBA 使用的障碍提供了一个有前途的解决方案，并有可能改善患者预后，支持解决精神卫生保健差距的持续努力。
