Mechanisms underpinning effective peer support: a qualitative analysis of interactions between expert peers and patients newly-diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Background: The increasing burden on mental health services has led to the growing use of peer support in psychological interventions. Four theoretical mechanisms have been proposed to underpin effective peer support: advice grounded in experiential knowledge, social support, social comparison and the helper therapy principle. However, there has been a lack of studies examining whether these mechanisms are also evident in clinical populations in which interpersonal dysfunction is common, such as bipolar disorder.

Multidisciplinary Team Care Arrangements in the management of patients with chronic disease in Australian general practice.

Objective: To explore factors associated with the frequency of multidisciplinary Team Care Arrangements (TCAs) and the impact of TCAs on patient-assessed quality of care in Australian general practice.

Design And Setting: Data were collected as part of a cluster randomised controlled trial conducted in 60 general practices in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria between July 2006 and June 2008. Multilevel logistic regression analysis evaluated factors associated with the frequency of TCAs recorded in the 12 months after baseline, and multilevel multivariable analysis examined the association between TCAs and patient-assessed quality of chronic illness care, adjusted for patient and practice characteristics.

A tool to measure whether business management capacity in general practice impacts on the quality of chronic illness care.

Our aim was to develop a tool to identify specific features of the business and financial management of practices that facilitate better quality care for chronic illness in primary care. Domains of management were identified, resulting in the development of a structured interview tool that was administered in 97 primary care practices in Australia. Interview items were screened and subjected to factor analysis, subscales identified and the overall model fit determined.

Systematic care for asthma in Australian general practice: a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate whether systematic asthma care involving a register-recall system, postcard prompts for review, and education for general practitioners and staff in Australian general practice improves the quality of care and health outcomes for adult patients with moderate to severe asthma.

Design And Setting: Cluster randomised controlled trial in 40 general practices in urban and rural South Australia and New South Wales over the 2 years 2004 and 2005; practices were randomly allocated to the intervention or control group.

Participants: 565 adult patients of these randomly allocated practices who had doctor-diagnosed moderate to severe asthma and were taking inhaled corticosteroids.

Medical assistants: a primary care workforce solution?

Background: A new medical assistant training program has been developed as an innovative solution to the workforce pressures facing general practice in Australia.

Objective: This article describes the development and implementation of the Australian medical assistant role and training program, and discusses key lessons learned in the 4 years after the first medical assistants were trained.

Discussion: Medical assistants are trained to carry out delegated administrative and clinical assisting duties specific to the ambulatory care environment.

Defining internet-supported therapeutic interventions.

Background: The field of Internet-supported therapeutic interventions has suffered from a lack of clarity and consistency. The absence of professional leadership and of accepted governing approaches, terminology, professional standards, and methodologies has caused this field to be diffused and unstructured. Numerous terms have been used to label and describe the activities conducted over the Internet for mental and physical health purposes: web-based therapy, e-therapy, cybertherapy, eHealth, e-Interventions, computer-mediated interventions, and online therapy (or counseling), among others.

Chronic Care Team Profile: a brief tool to measure the structure and function of chronic care teams in general practice.

Aim: At a time when workforce shortages in general practices are leading to greater role substitution and skill-mix diversification, and the demand on general practices for chronic disease care is increasing, the structure and function of the general practice team is taking on heightened importance. To assist general practices and the organizations supporting them to assess the effectiveness of their chronic care teamworking, we developed an interview tool, the Chronic Care Team Profile (CCTP), to measure the structure and function of teams in general practice. This paper describes its properties and potential use.

What happens after diagnosis? Understanding the experiences of patients with newly-diagnosed bipolar disorder.

Unlabelled: Bipolar disorder is chronic condition involving episodes of both depression and elevated mood, associated with significant disability and high relapse rates. Recent estimates suggest a lifetime prevalence of 5%. Little is known about the subjective experiences of patients after receiving a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, and the impact of these experiences on patients' willingness and ability to work with their health professionals to find the most effective combination of treatments and to set up self-management plans.

Multidisciplinary care plans for diabetes: how are they used?

Objective: To understand how multidisciplinary care plans are being used in the management of patients with diabetes, and to explore the role of collaboration in care planning.

Design: Grounded theory interview study.

Setting: Primary care, June 2005 to October 2006.

How people with chronic illnesses view their care in general practice: a qualitative study.

Objectives: To explore the perceptions of patients with chronic conditions about the nature and quality of their care in general practice.

Design: Qualitative study using focus group methods conducted 1 June to 30 November 2002.

Participants And Setting: 76 consumers in 12 focus groups in New South Wales and South Australia.

Computer-based treatment for anxiety and depression: is it feasible? Is it effective?

The rise of consumerism, escalating levels of technological change and increasing demand for better dissemination of psychological treatments signal a transformation in the treatment of mental health problems. Soon health care consumers will have a choice as to whether they wish to consult a clinician in his/her rooms in order to receive a diagnosis, treatment and support, or instead to receive these services electronically, or a combination of both. Some of the online services currently available include structured therapy programs, psychological treatment by email, real-time online counselling, professionally assisted chat rooms, self-help groups, health information and educational modules.