Content and implementation of clinical decisions in the routine care of people with severe mental illness.

Background: Clinical decision making (CDM) in the treatment of people with severe mental illness relates to a wide range of life domains.

Aims: To examine content of CDM in mental health care from the perspectives of service users and staff and to investigate variation in implementation of decisions for differing content.

Method: As part of the European multicenter study clinical decision making and outcome in routine care for people with severe mental illness (ISRCTN75841675), 588 service users and their clinicians were asked to identify the decisions made during their last meeting.

Development and psychometric properties of a five-language multiperspective instrument to assess clinical decision making style in the treatment of people with severe mental illness (CDMS).

Background: The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate psychometric properties of the Clinical Decision Making Style (CDMS) scale which measures general preferences for decision making as well as preferences regarding the provision of information to the patient from the perspectives of people with severe mental illness and staff.

Methods: A participatory approach was chosen for instrument development which followed 10 sequential steps proposed in a current guideline of good practice for the translation and cultural adaptation of measures. Following item analysis, reliability, validity, and long-term stability of the CDMS were examined using Spearman correlations in a sample of 588 people with severe mental illness and 213 mental health professionals in 6 European countries (Germany, UK, Italy, Denmark, Hungary, and Switzerland).

[Shared decision-making in the treatment of people with severe mental illness: a focus group study].

Objective: Shared decision-making during the course of treatment is important for people with severe mental illness. However, there is still insufficient knowledge about how people with mental illness view decisions, what kind of decisions are made and how patients experience and perceive the process of participation in routine care.

Methods: A qualitative study with focus groups was conducted with patients with chronic mental illness currently receiving outpatient care (N=23).

Different transport mechanisms in plant and human AMT/Rh-type ammonium transporters.

The conserved family of AMT/Rh proteins facilitates ammonium transport across animal, plant, and microbial membranes. A bacterial homologue, AmtB, forms a channel-like structure and appears to function as an NH3 gas channel. To evaluate the function of eukaryotic homologues, the human RhCG glycoprotein and the tomato plant ammonium transporter LeAMT1;2 were expressed and compared in Xenopus oocytes and yeast.