title: Best practice in early psychosis intervention for Australian indigenous communities: indigenous worker consultation and service model description.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to identify promising elements of best practice relevant to mainstream mental health service (MHS) delivery of early psychosis intervention (EPI) to Indigenous communities. In a companion paper, a comprehensive literature review identified a promising service model with potential for delivering EPI: an Indigenous sub-team embedded within a mainstream health service.
  
  
  METHODS
  This paper describes a consultation process with Indigenous Mental Health Workers (IMHWs) in south eastern Queensland. A case study of the Sunshine Coast Cultural Healing Program (CHP-SC) was carried out during the consultation process.
  
  
  RESULTS
  IMHWs agreed that the Australian clinical guidelines for early psychosis were relevant to improving outcomes for Indigenous patients. IMHWs unanimously identified the CHP-SC as a best practice mainstream MHS for delivering EPI. The CHP-SC, which represented an Indigenous sub-team model, was found to be associated with substantially improved engagement of Indigenous young people.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We provisionally conclude that specialist EPI could be delivered by specialist Indigenous sub-teams (rather than specialist EPI teams) embedded in mainstream MHSs that incorporate culturally safe practice and are fully integrated with Indigenous primary care services, and recommend that the model be formally evaluated.
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. s.catts@uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Catts
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: O'Toole
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neil
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eadie
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crissman
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McClay
authors.forename: Travis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shorey
mesh_terms: D003150:Community Health Workers; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000379:methods; D061345:Early Medical Intervention / Q000379:methods*; D017144:Focus Groups; D006302:Health Services Research; D006303:Health Services, Indigenous / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy; D011793:Queensland / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Aboriginal; health services research; mental health; schizophrenia; service model evaluation