title: Comparing a Community Mental Health team in Bedford (UK) with Community Mental Health Services in Perugia (Italy): description of teams and caseloads.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of our work is to evaluate and compare some of the key indicators that characterize one English Community Health team (Bedford), two Italian Mental Health Services, in Bastia and Magione, and one University Hospital Mental Health Service, in Perugia. Our work was conducted on the basis of a collaboration between Cambridge University (UK) and the University of Perugia (Italy).
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed and described the teams supplying information about the number of psychiatrists, types of staff and populations in the catchment areas. Furthermore, we analyzed their caseloads, referring to the epidemiologic features and the diagnostic aspects. We considered the population that were referred to the services in February 2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There are some differences between the organization of the teams and the caseloads of the Community Mental Health Services in Italy and in England and between the community health services and the hospital service. As for the diagnostic aspects, Mood Disorders seem to be the most frequent diagnosis in each service (Bedford 53.8%, Perugia 48%, Magione 45%, Bastia 38%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The World Health Organisation identifies strong links between mental health status and development for individuals, communities and countries. In order to improve the mental health of the population, countries need effective and accessible treatment, prevention, and promotion programs. Achieving adequate support for mental health in any country requires a unified and shared approach. Little research has been done to describe the Mental Health Services in the different countries of the world, consequently more studies are needed to assess the improvements in the mental health system in relation to the services available for the population. In our study, according to the literature, we detected that mood disorders are the most frequent cause of referral to mental health services in all the populations studied.
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology and Rehabilitation, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine - University of Perugia, Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, Perugia, Italy, sandro.elisei@unipg.it.
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Elisei
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agius
authors.forename: Eva Nora
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Bongards
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Salierno
authors.forename: Giampaolo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Massucci
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anastasi
authors.forename: Norma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Verdolini
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quartesan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult