Introduction/background: Aggression and violence are common problems in healthcare settings and affects both patients and healthcare staff. The Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression (DASA) is an assessment tool to guide assessment for short term risk in inpatient settings. There have been no large-scale studies examining the performance of the DASA across different clinical settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an evidence-based treatment for schizophrenia when anti-psychotic medications do not sufficiently control symptoms of psychosis or rapid response is required. Little is known about how it is used in routine clinical practice. The aim of this study was to identify the association of demographic and clinical characteristics with administration of ECT for schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Access to traditional mental health services in Canada remains limited, prompting exploration into digital alternatives. The Government of Ontario initiated access to two internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) programs, LifeWorks AbilitiCBT and MindBeacon TAiCBT, for adults with mental health issues.
Methods: An uncontrolled observational study utilizing secondary retrospective program data was conducted to evaluate the reach, uptake, and psychological symptom changes among participants engaging with either iCBT program.
Measuring quality of care is a critical first step towards improving the healthcare contributing to persistent poor outcomes experienced by many people living with schizophrenia. This scoping review aims to identify and characterize indicators for measuring the quality of care for people living with schizophrenia. We searched 6 academic databases, 4 grey literature databases, and 23 organization websites for documents containing quality indicators developed for or applied in a population with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: With increased utilization of virtual care in mental health, examining its appropriateness in various clinical scenarios is warranted. This study aimed to compare the risk of adverse psychiatric outcomes following virtual versus in-person mental health follow-up care after a psychiatric emergency department (ED) visit.
Methods: Using population-based health administrative data in Ontario (2021), we identified 28,232 adults discharged from a psychiatric ED visit who had a follow-up mental health visit within 14 days postdischarge.