[Cooperation between primary care and mental health services].
OBJECTIVE
To find out the current coordination/cooperation level of primary care (PC) with the adult mental health centres (AMHC), the addiction treatment centres (ATC) and children and adolescent mental health centres (CAMHC) of Catalonia (Spain). Differences in coordination between urban and non-urban areas were also evaluated.


METHODS
Cross-sectional descriptive study.


METHODS
Eighty PC centres representing the seven health regions of Catalonia.


METHODS
Selection was by means of a multi-staged and stratified sampling method. A total of 356 of the 618 PC physicians who agreed to participate completed a survey evaluating different aspects of coordination with the specialised mental health services.


RESULTS
The PC physicians indicated that the availability of AMHC was worse than that provided by ACT and CAMHC. However, the reports on the state of the referred patients and the training courses in mental health offered by the AMHC were more frequent. There were no significant differences in availability or training in mental health between urban and non-urban areas.


CONCLUSIONS
The cooperation between the PC and the specialised mental health services of Catalonia is optimal in some aspects, but patient waiting time needs to be reduced for first visits to the AMHC and training activities offered by the CAMHC and the ACT need to be increased.
Luciano Devis
Juan Vicente
JV
Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo, Sant Joan de Déu, Servicios de Salud Mental, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, España. jvluciano@sjd-ssm.com
Fernández Sánchez
Ana
A
Serrano-Blanco
Antoni
A
Pinto-Meza
Alejandra
A
Palao Vidal
Diego José
DJ
Mercader Menéndez
Mercè
M
Haro Abad
Josep Maria
JM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D012424:Rural Population; D013030:Spain; D014505:Urban Population