BMJ  2004;329 (6 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7474.0

Outreach improves early psychosis

Patients with early psychosis maintain better contact with services and have fewer readmissions to hospital if they receive specialised care instead of standard care. Craig and colleagues (p 1067) randomised 144 people presenting to mental health services for the first or second time with non-organic, non-affective psychosis to assertive outreach or standard care. They found that patients who received the intervention were less likely to relapse, were readmitted fewer times, and were less likely to drop out of the study than those who received standard care.

Related Article

The Lambeth Early Onset (LEO) Team: randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of specialised care for early psychosis

Tom K J Craig, Philippa Garety, Paddy Power, Nikola Rahaman, Susannah Colbert, Miriam Fornells-Ambrojo, and Graham Dunn
BMJ 2004 329: 1067. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]