Clinical judgement versus self-rating of demoralization in outpatients with a substance-use disorder: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: To investigate the ability of case managers, working in ambulatory treatment settings specialized in addiction care, to clinically judge demoralization in substance-dependent patients.

Design And Methods: In a cross-sectional study, clinical judgments of case managers were compared with the patients' scores on the Demoralization Scale, by calculating the sensitivity and specificity scores.

Findings: Case managers identified demoralization in 85% of the cases (sensitivity), the specificity of 62% suggests that demoralization was overestimated by case managers.

Barriers and facilitators to employment in borderline personality disorder: A qualitative study among patients, mental health practitioners and insurance physicians.

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with unemployment and impaired functioning. However, a comprehensive understanding of barriers and facilitators to employment from a multidisciplinary perspective is currently lacking. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study was to explore barriers and facilitators in gaining and maintaining employment in BPD from the perspectives of patients, mental health practitioners (MHPs) and insurance physicians (IPs).

Access to palliative care for homeless people: complex lives, complex care.

Background: People experiencing homelessness often encounter progressive incurable somatic diseases in combination with psychiatric and psychosocial problems, and many need palliative care at the end of their lives. Little is known about how palliative care for this group can be started in good time and provided optimally. The objective of this paper is to give insight into the extent people experiencing homelessness have access to good palliative care.

Care provider allocation on admissions to acute mental health wards: The development and validation of the Admission Team Score List.

Currently, support tools are lacking to prioritize steps in the care coordination process to enable safe practice and effective clinical pathways in the first phase of acute psychiatric admissions. This study describes the development, validity, and reliability of an acute care coordination support tool, the Admission Team Score List (ATSL). The ATSL assists in care provider allocation during admissions.

Evaluation of an interaction-skills training for reducing the burden of family caregivers of patients with severe mental illness: a pre-posttest design.

Background: Family members who care for patients with severe mental illness experience emotional distress and report a higher incidence of mental illness than those in the general population. They report feeling inadequately prepared to provide the necessary practical and emotional support for these patients. The MAT training, an Interaction-Skills Training program (IST) for caregivers, was developed to meet those needs.

Systematic review of self-management in patients with schizophrenia: psychometric assessment of tools, levels of self-management and associated factors.

Aims: The aim of this study was to provide an overview of existing knowledge about self-management assessment tools used in patients with schizophrenia, and levels of self-management and associated factors in these patients.

Background: Self-management empowers patients with chronic conditions to manage their illness and psychosocial consequences. With respect to patients with schizophrenia, knowledge concerning self-management is scarce.

Collaborative Care for Patients With Severe Personality Disorders: Analyzing the Execution Process in a Pilot Study (Part II).

Purpose: To examine the factors that influence the effective execution of a collaborative care program (CCP) for patients with severe personality disorders.

Design And Methods: A multiple case study using qualitative research methods.

Findings: Three factors were identified as influencing the execution process: (a) the context in which the CCP was executed, (b) the patient population, and (c) the individual application of the CCP by nurses.

Collaborative Care for Patients With Severe Personality Disorders: Preliminary Results and Active Ingredients From a Pilot Study (Part I).

Purpose: To test if a collaborative care program (CCP) with nurses in a coordinating position is beneficial for patients with severe personality disorders.

Design And Methods: A pilot study with a comparative multiple case study design using mixed methods investigating active ingredients and preliminary results.

Findings: Most patients, their informal caregivers, and nurses value (parts of) the CCP positively; preliminary results show a significant decrease in severity of borderline symptoms.

Collaborative Care for patients with severe borderline and NOS personality disorders: a comparative multiple case study on processes and outcomes.

Background: Structured psychotherapy is recommended as the preferred treatment of personality disorders. A substantial group of patients, however, has no access to these therapies or does not benefit. For those patients who have no (longer) access to psychotherapy a Collaborative Care Program (CCP) is developed.