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Introduction: First episode psychosis (FEP) services ensure higher recovery rates compared to usual care. The aim of this study was to investigate the different dimensions of recovery and its predictors. Methods: This cross‐sectional study recruited within those admitted to the Ferrara FEP service since 2012 that at the time of analysis were still receiving psychiatric care. At admission, demographic, social and clinical information were collected. In September 2022, patients were assessed with the Health of the Nation Outcome Scale to evaluate clinical/functional recovery, the Recovery Assessment Scale to evaluate personal recovery, and the G12 item of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale to evaluate insight. Patients in recovery were compared to those not in recovery by bivariate analyses. Adjusted logistic regressions were performed to investigate predictors of recovery. Results: Within 141 admitted, and 105 still receiving care, 54 patients completed the assessment. Most (51.9%) were in clinical/functional, 61.1% in personal recovery, and 38.8% both. Psychiatric hospitalization positively predicted clinical/functional recovery, whereas being prescribed oral antipsychotics was a negative predictor. Personal recovery was predicted by male sex and showed a negative association with overall severity of symptomatology. Those in personal recovery were more likely to have been prescribed long‐acting antipsychotics, but this was not significant in the multivariable analysis. Poor insight negatively predicted clinical/functional recovery but had no impact on personal recovery. Conclusion: Our findings confirm that clinical/functional and personal recovery are semi‐independent dimensions and not always overlap. Further research is needed to promote interventions targeted at all recovery dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today the growing demand for Mental Health Services capable of providing high-quality services of care, combined with sustainable spin-offs at the economic level, requires new knowledge, new skills and new attitudes, also by virtue of the emergence of new issues, which pose high challenges. In the face of these challenges, most training curricula are inadequate, since they do not offer specific training to stimulate the interest of students or trainees, nor do they provide the necessary encouragement, awareness, essential support and fundamental information to start such a complex job as that of integrated and multidimensional treatment of mental disorders in the community. A radical rethinking is needed on both the content and the manner in which training programs are offered, taking into account the most up-to-date evidence-based acquisitions, in the light of the biopsychosocial paradigm and promoting the training of the entire Community Mental Health Center, in order to ensure that at whatever point of the Mental Health Center network a citizen receives the same quality of treatment and the same intervention methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To examine the incidence of with first-episode psychosis (FEP) in the Integrated Department of Mental Health and Pathological Addictions in Ferrara, Italy, and to examine the association between the Duration of Untreated Psychosis (DUP) and the clinical course., Methods: Participants recruited in 2013-2019 were assessed with the Health of the Nation Outcome Scale (HoNOS) every 6 months for 24 months. Hierarchical growth models analysed changes of global severity (HoNOS total scores) and symptom dimensions. Regression modelled factors associated with remission (HoNOS < 8) and clinical improvement (<12)., Results: The incidence of FEP was 21.5 (95%CI: 21.2-21.9) cases per 100 000 person year. Among participants (n = 86, mean age 23, 76% males), baseline HoNOS scores were higher for those with a longer DUP. More than half subjects reached clinical remission (61.6%) or improvement (82.6%), while very few (2.3%) were re-hospitalized. HoNOS total scores decayed with a mixed linear/quadratic trend, with a slower decay among migrants. A longer DUP was associated with reduced improvements of positive symptoms and lower likelihood of clinical improvement (OR: 0.84; 95%CI: 0.73-0.96)., Conclusions: Patients from the FEP program of Ferrara reached good clinical outcomes. Nonetheless, individuals with a longer DUP may need additional clinical attention. Systematic monitoring of clinical outcomes may be an optimal strategy to improve the outcomes of FEP in the real world., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)