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Objective: Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) is an effective intervention in managing the significant cognitive deficits experienced by those living with psychosis. Given its strong evidence base CRT is recommended in Australian and international guidelines for rehabilitation of people with psychosis, however, access to CRT remains limited. In this commentary, we describe recent efforts to implement CRT programs within NSW mental health services. Development of CRT delivery has been successfully achieved in both rural and metropolitan settings, utilising both face-to-face and telehealth methods. Conclusions: The delivery of CRT in public mental health services is feasible and adaptable to diverse settings. We strongly advocate for sustainable implementation of CRT into routine clinical practice. This will require policy and practice change to enable resources for CRT training and delivery to become embedded in the roles of the clinical workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: International guidelines recommend that individuals with treatment-resistant psychosis must be treated with clozapine. ECT has also been reported to improve symptomprofiles. Identification of clozapine and/or ECT use in real-world practice enables understanding of the extent to which this evidence-base is implemented. Setting: Statewide public health tertiary referral service, the Tertiary Referral Service for Psychosis (TRSP), NSW, Australia. Objectives: To (i) describe clinical characteristics of individuals with treatment-resistant psychosis and to detail the proportion who had received a trial of clozapine or ECT at any point during their illness course; (ii) describe the characteristics of the treatment trials in both those currently on clozapine and those previously on clozapine; (iii) document reasons in relevant individuals why clozapine had never been used. Methods: All TRSP clients who met the criteria for treatment resistance (TR) were included. A detailed casenote review was conducted to examine whether clozapine and/or ECT had ever been prescribed. Characteristics of clozapine and ECT trials were documented. Tertiary service treatment recommendations are described. Findings: Thirty-six of 48 individuals had TR. They had marked clinical and functional impairment. A minority were currently receiving clozapine (n = 14/36). Most had received a clozapine trial at some point (n = 32/36). Most experienced persistent clinical symptoms while on clozapine (n = 29/32). Clozapine plasma levels were very rarely reported (4/32). Augmentation and antipsychotic polypharmacy were common among those currently on clozapine. The median clozapine trial duration was 4.0 (IQR: 3.0-20.3) months in individuals previously prescribed clozapine. Reasons for clozapine discontinuation included intolerable side effects (n = 10/18) and poor adherence (n = 7/18). One-quarter of TR individuals had trialed ECT (n = 9/36). Tertiary service recommendations included routine plasma monitoring to optimize dose among people currently on clozapine; clozapine retrial in those previously treated; and clozapine initiation for those who had never received clozapine. ECT was recommended to augment clozapine and as an alternative where clozapine trial/retrial was not feasible. Conclusion: Among people with TR referred to a tertiary service, clozapine and ECT were underutilized. Clozapine trials are typically terminated without an adequate trial. Strategies to optimize the use of clozapine therapy and ECT in clinical settings are needed to increase the therapeutic effectiveness of evidence-based therapies for treatment-resistant psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe and compare the health profiles and health service use of people hospitalised with severe mental illness, with and without psychotic symptoms. Methods: We conducted a historical cohort study using linked administrative datasets, including data on public hospital admissions, emergency department presentations and ambulatory mental health service contacts in New South Wales, Australia. The study cohort comprised 169,306 individuals aged 12 years and over who were hospitalised at least once with a mental health diagnosis between 1 July 2002 and 31 December 2014. Of these, 63,110 had a recorded psychotic illness and 106,196 did not. Outcome measures were rates of hospital, emergency department and mental health ambulatory service utilisation, analysed using Poisson regression. Results: People with psychotic illnesses had higher rates of hospital admission (adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.26; 95% confidence interval [1.23, 1.30]), emergency department presentation (adjusted IRR 1.17; 95% confidence interval [1.13, 1.20]) and ambulatory mental health treatment days (adjusted IRR 2.90; 95% confidence interval [2.82, 2.98]) than people without psychotic illnesses. The higher rate of hospitalisation among people with psychotic illnesses was driven by mental health admissions; while people with psychosis had over twice the rate of mental health admissions, people with other severe mental illnesses without psychosis (e.g. mood/affective, anxiety and personality disorders) had higher rates of physical health admissions, including for circulatory, musculoskeletal, genitourinary and respiratory disorders. Factors that predicted greater health service utilisation included psychosis, intellectual disability, greater medical comorbidity and previous hospitalisation. Conclusion: Findings from this study support the need for (a) the development of processes to support the physical health of people with severe mental illness, including those without psychosis; (b) a focus in mental health policy and service provision on people with complex support needs, and (c) improved implementation and testing of integrated models of care to improve health outcomes for all people experiencing severe mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a routine screening and triage tool for alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) in improving clinical care delivery in an ED setting., Methods: In a regional ED in Australia, a screening and triage tool for AWS was introduced to routine ED assessment for a 13 week period. Subjects were all presentations to ED aged 16 and above with relevant presenting problems during the pre-intervention phase (1 January 2015-31 December 2016) and the post-intervention phase (8 August 2016-4 November 2016). Key clinical care delivery elements related to AWS in patients presenting to ED were compared pre- and post-intervention, namely proportion of presentations: (i) meeting criteria for AWS; (ii) receiving appropriate management for AWS; and (iii) with alcohol documentation in patient notes., Results: A total of 5.8% of total ED presentations in the post-intervention phase and 4.5% in the pre-intervention 1 year phase had relevant presenting problems. Compared to the 1 year pre-intervention phase, post-intervention showed: (i) a significant decrease in the number of presentations meeting criteria for AWS (χ 2 = 6.56, P = 0.01); (ii) a significant increase in appropriate management of AWS (χ 2 = 17.09, P < 0.001); and (iii) a significant increase in alcohol documentation in notes (χ 2 = 13.29, P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Detection and appropriate management of AWS and documentation of alcohol use can be improved significantly through adoption of a brief screening and triage tool, and related interventions to increase awareness of alcohol-related problems., (© 2018 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.)