Psychiatric Consultation-Liaison Intervention in Primary Care: A Pilot Study
A Pilot Study on the Impact of a Psychiatric Consultation-Liaison Intervention in Primary Care Medical Consultations in French Speaking Switzerland (PLIMeC-P): A Mixed Method Randomized Controlled Trial
Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisante), University of Lausanne, Switzerland
30 participants
May 1, 2024
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
The pilot study on the impact of a Psychiatric Consultation-Liaison Intervention in Primary Care Medical Consultations in French-speaking Switzerland (PLIMeC-P), is a mixed method randomized controlled trial. The investigated health-related intervention is a brief Consultation-Liaison (CL) psychiatry intervention in primary care. Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) have a key role in preventing, detecting, and managing mental disorders. Therefore, the optimization of both the quality of their interventions and their cooperation with psychiatric and psychological care networks are important challenges. It is well demonstrated that multidisciplinary interventions improve the efficacy of mental health care, CL psychiatry being one such type of intervention. Therefore, community CL-psychiatry, for example in private primary care group practices, are rare. The impact of such community, primary care CL-psychiatry interventions, should be investigated. The mixed methods randomized controlled trial PLIMeC study will examine the impact of a CL-psychiatric intervention in primary care settings, for newly reported mental illness, versus a Treatment As Usual (TAU) control arm. The intervention consists of a CL-psychiatric intervention into private medical practices, provided to patients suffering from mental health problems, a group of patients generally under-treated. The CL-psychiatrist will receive and discuss PCPs' referrals for patients with mental distress, who don't have a psychiatric follow-up. After a brief intervention (1-4 sessions), feedback conjoint (PCP-psychiatrist) session will be organized, to complete the intervention and provide proposals. The pilot study (PLIMeC-P) will determine whether the main planned study (PLIMeC) is feasible and practicable. It will be conducted on two sites, the Neuchâtel Psychiatry Centre (CNP) and the North-west Adult Psychiatry Service (SPANO), Department of Psychiatry of CHUV, Yverdon. For the pilot study (PLIMeC-P), 15 eligible participants are expected for each group, 30 participants in total. They will be recruited in three private primary care group practices. After eligibility and randomization 15 participants will be included for the intervention arm (brief CL-psychiatric intervention) and 15 for the control arm (TAU). The expected number of participants for the main trial (PLIMeC) will be estimated through analysis of the initial results of the PLIMeC-P.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria4
- Aged more than 18 years
- Signed informed consent to study protocol
- Referred by their PCP due to mental distress, psychiatric symptoms, or complexity of medical care
- Having fluent knowledge of the local language or being accompanied by an interpreter
Exclusion Criteria3
- Not being able to give an informed consent and follow the procedure of the study (due to dementia, restriction of intellectual capacity, acute confusional state, language problem)
- Presenting an acute psychotic symptomatology, a hetero-aggression risk or an acute suicidality
- Having an ongoing psychiatric follow-up
Interventions
The CL brief psychiatric intervention (2 months) in the primary setting will consist of 3 different phases: 1. A direct referral of their PCP to the practice's CL psychiatrist will be held directly after the inclusion of the patient to the intervention arm, by conducting a clinical exchange (by oral or by mail) with the latter. 2. The CL psychiatrist will organize rapidly (in a delay of 1-2 weeks) a first session and will perform 1 to 4 psychiatric sessions, depending on the participant's needs. These sessions will take place in his/her consultation room, located in the referring PCP's practice, and will be completed in less than 2 months. No intervention guide will be provided to perform these sessions. 3. A joint feedback session between the PCP, the participant, and the CL psychiatrist will be organized (2 months after the first psychiatric session), during which the CL psychiatrist will make restitution of his/her proposals, from a biopsychosocial perspective.
PCPs will explain to the participants that they will treat their psychological suffering, by providing the usual care for patients with psychiatric co-morbidities. Treatment as usual (TAU) by the PCP may involve supportive care (psychoeducation, psychotherapeutic support, social interventions, etc.), referral to a mental health provider (psychotherapist, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse, etc.), treatment with psychotropic drugs, hypnosis, acupuncture, relaxation, etc. So as to facilitate their task, PCPs participating in this study will be provided with a list of mental health workers that they could contact.
Locations(3)
View Full Details on ClinicalTrials.gov
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NCT06377189