Italian quality assurance in mental health.
Since the radical changes in Italian mental health law in the 1970s, quality assurance models have gained consensus as the most suitable service assessment tool. In the 1990s, the whole Italian National Health System changed into a corporate model, and an accreditation system was implemented.The Italian Association for Quality and Accreditation in Mental Health (Associazione Italiana per la Qualità e l'Accreditamento in Salute Mentale [QUASM]) was founded in 1984, and since then, it offers consultation and support for Mental Health Departments and Regional Governments to help them to develop psychiatric programs, self-evaluation, educational programs, and professional peer-model accreditation. The QUASM accreditation manual has now gone through several revisions, the last in 2008. Until 2008, QUASM was successful in promoting quality and facilitating both institutional and professional accreditation. However, radical changes triggered by financial crisis have jeopardized quality assurance implementation. Nowadays, the challenge for QUASM is to maintain quality and accreditation geared to excellence against prevailing leveling trends.
*QUASM Italian Association on Quality and Accreditation in Mental Health, Milan, Italy; †IRIS Postgraduate School of Psychotherapy, Milan, Italy; ‡Department of Mental Health, AUSL of Romagna, Cesena, Italy; §Department of Mental Health of Azienda "Istituti Ospitalieri of Cremona," Cremona, Italy; ∥"Azienda Ospedaliera Ospedale Niguarda Ca' Granda," Milan, Italy; ¶Department of Mental Health, "Azienda Ospedaliera Ospedale Niguarda Ca' Granda," Milan, Italy; #"Ospedale Privato Villa Igea," Modena, Italy; **"Associazione Contatto Onlus per la Promozione delle Reti Sociali Naturali," Milan, Italy; ††Department of Mental Health, ASL Bari, Bari, Italy; and ‡‡Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, AUSL Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Giovanni
G
Rossi
Germana
G
Agnetti
Roberto
R
Bosio
Pasquale
P
De Luca
Arcadio
A
Erlicher
Carla
C
Morganti
Giovanni
G
Neri
Edoardo
E
Re
Domenico
D
Semisa
Angelo
A
Fioritti
D000068:Accreditation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D016730:Program Development / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*