Predictors of changes in needs for care in patients receiving community psychiatric treatment: a 4-year follow-up study.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to investigate changes and predictors of change in needs for care, as assessed by both patients and mental health professionals, in a sample of subjects receiving community-based psychiatric care.


METHODS
The study was conducted using a 4-year prospective longitudinal design. A cohort of patients from the South-Verona Community Mental Health Service (CMHS) was assessed at baseline and follow-up using the Camberwell Assessment of Need, both staff and patient versions. Predictors of changes in needs were explored using block-stratified multiple regression analyses.


RESULTS
An overall stability for both patient-rated and staff-rated needs was found over time; however, significant changes in some specific need domains were found, such as self-rated health needs (improvement), self-rated social needs (deterioration) and staff-rated health needs (deterioration). Changes over time in self-rated and staff-rated needs are influenced by different and specific set of predictors, thus indicating that the two measures are not overlapping and convey different types of information.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data support the adoption of a negotiated approach in which both staff and users' views should be given equal weight when planning and providing needs-led mental health care.
Lasalvia
A
A
Department of Medicine and Public Health, Section of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy. antonio.lasalvia@medicina.univr.it
Bonetto
C
C
Salvi
G
G
Bissoli
S
S
Tansella
M
M
Ruggeri
M
M
D000328:Adult; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies