Best practice in early psychosis intervention for Australian indigenous communities: indigenous worker consultation and service model description.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify promising elements of best practice relevant to mainstream mental health service (MHS) delivery of early psychosis intervention (EPI) to Indigenous communities. In a companion paper, a comprehensive literature review identified a promising service model with potential for delivering EPI: an Indigenous sub-team embedded within a mainstream health service.

Method: This paper describes a consultation process with Indigenous Mental Health Workers (IMHWs) in south eastern Queensland.

Communicating in the pre-hospital emergency environment.

Aim: To develop and evaluate the implementation of a communication board for paramedics to use with patients as an augmentative or alternative communication tool to address communication needs of patients in the pre-hospital setting.

Method: A double-sided A4-size communication board was designed specifically for use in the pre-hospital setting by the Queensland Ambulance Service and Disability and Community Care Services. One side of the board contains expressive messages that could be used by both the patient and paramedic.

Clinical indicators for routine use in the evaluation of early psychosis intervention: development, training support and inter-rater reliability.

Aim: Clinical practice improvement carried out in a quality assurance framework relies on routinely collected data using clinical indicators. Herein we describe the development, minimum training requirements, and inter-rater agreement of indicators that were used in an Australian multi-site evaluation of the effectiveness of early psychosis (EP) teams.

Methods: Surveys of clinician opinion and face-to-face consensus-building meetings were used to select and conceptually define indicators.

Appraising evidence for intervention effectiveness in early psychosis: conceptual framework and review of evaluation approaches.

The literature that is relevant to evaluation of treatment effectiveness is large, scattered and difficult to assemble for appraisal. This scoping review first develops a conceptual framework to help organize the field, and second, uses the framework to appraise early psychosis intervention (EPI) studies. Literature searches were used to identify representative study designs, which were then sorted according to evaluation approach.

Randomised controlled trial of a secondary prevention program for myocardial infarction patients ('ProActive Heart'): study protocol. Secondary prevention program for myocardial infarction patients.

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a significant cause of health and economic burden. Secondary prevention programs play a pivotal role in the treatment and management of those affected by CHD although participation rates are poor due to patient, provider, health system and societal-level barriers. As such, there is a need to develop innovative secondary prevention programs to address the treatment gap.

Schemata as moderators of clinical effectiveness of a comprehensive cognitive behavioral program for patients with depression or anxiety disorders.

The authors examined the clinical effectiveness of a comprehensive cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) program offered to patients with depression or anxiety disorders. They also tested the prediction, based on Young's schema-focused approach to therapy, that endorsement of maladaptive cognitive schemata predicts poor response to standard CBT. One hundred thirty-four consecutive referrals were assessed on a battery of self-report measures at the commencement of the program, and 121 of these patients (90%) completed the program and provided posttreatment data.