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Looi JCL, Allison S, Bastiampillai T, Kisely S. What have been the clinical outcomes of the Project Synergy/InnoWell digital health platform? AUST HEALTH REV 2023; 47:747-749. [PMID: 37814472 DOI: 10.1071/ah23159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023]
Abstract
Project Synergy is a digital mental health tool for assessment, referral and follow-up of people with mental health problems. The Australian federal government Department of Health entered an AUD33 million formal funding arrangement with InnoWell, a proprietary company vehicle (primarily the consultancy firm PwC and University of Sydney) to continue development of Project Synergy. This followed an initial federal National Health and Medical Research Council grant of AUD5.5 million over the previous 3 years. However, based on the assessment of peer-reviewed research data, the Project Synergy/InnoWell platform does not seem to have demonstrated clinical outcomes of healthcare value to date.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey C L Looi
- Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, The Australian National University School of Medicine and Psychology, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT, Australia; and Consortium of Australian-Academic Psychiatrists for Independent Policy and Research Analysis (CAPIPRA), Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Stephen Allison
- Consortium of Australian-Academic Psychiatrists for Independent Policy and Research Analysis (CAPIPRA), Canberra, ACT, Australia; and College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Tarun Bastiampillai
- Consortium of Australian-Academic Psychiatrists for Independent Policy and Research Analysis (CAPIPRA), Canberra, ACT, Australia; and College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia; and Department of Psychiatry, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton, Vic., Australia
| | - Steve Kisely
- Consortium of Australian-Academic Psychiatrists for Independent Policy and Research Analysis (CAPIPRA), Canberra, ACT, Australia; and School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, Qld, Australia; and Departments of Psychiatry, Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
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Bebbington E, Poole R, Kumar SP, Krayer A, Krishna M, Taylor P, Hawton K, Raman R, Kakola M, Srinivasarangan M, Robinson C. Establishing Self-Harm Registers: The Role of Process Mapping to Improve Quality of Surveillance Data Globally. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:2647. [PMID: 36768009 PMCID: PMC9915364 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20032647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Revised: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Self-harm registers (SHRs) are an essential means of monitoring rates of self-harm and evaluating preventative interventions, but few SHRs exist in countries with the highest burden of suicides and self-harm. Current international guidance on establishing SHRs recommends data collection from emergency departments, but this does not adequately consider differences in the provision of emergency care globally. We aim to demonstrate that process mapping can be used prior to the implementation of an SHR to understand differing hospital systems. This information can be used to determine the method by which patients meeting the SHR inclusion criteria can be most reliably identified, and how to mitigate hospital processes that may introduce selection bias into these data. We illustrate this by sharing in detail the experiences from a government hospital and non-profit hospital in south India. We followed a five-phase process mapping approach developed for healthcare settings during 2019-2020. Emergency care provided in the government hospital was accessed through casualty department triage. The non-profit hospital had an emergency department. Both hospitals had open access outpatient departments. SHR inclusion criteria overlapped with conditions requiring Indian medicolegal registration. Medicolegal registers are the most likely single point to record patients meeting the SHR inclusion criteria from multiple emergency care areas in India (e.g., emergency department/casualty, outpatients, other hospital areas), but should be cross-checked against registers of presentations to the emergency department/casualty to capture less-sick patients and misclassified cases. Process mapping is an easily reproducible method that can be used prior to the implementation of an SHR to understand differing hospital systems. This information is pivotal to choosing which hospital record systems should be used for identifying patients and to proactively reduce bias in SHR data. The method is equally applicable in low-, middle- and high-income countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Bebbington
- Wrexham Academic Unit, Centre for Mental Health and Society, Bangor University, Wrexham LL13 7YP, UK
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor LL57 2PW, UK
| | - Rob Poole
- Wrexham Academic Unit, Centre for Mental Health and Society, Bangor University, Wrexham LL13 7YP, UK
| | - Sudeep Pradeep Kumar
- South Asia Self-Harm Initiative, JSS Hospital, Mysuru 570 004, India
- Department of Clinical Psychology, JSS Hospital, Mysuru 570 004, India
| | - Anne Krayer
- Wrexham Academic Unit, Centre for Mental Health and Society, Bangor University, Wrexham LL13 7YP, UK
| | - Murali Krishna
- Wrexham Academic Unit, Centre for Mental Health and Society, Bangor University, Wrexham LL13 7YP, UK
- South Asia Self-Harm Initiative, JSS Hospital, Mysuru 570 004, India
| | - Peter Taylor
- Division of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| | - Keith Hawton
- Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK
| | - Rajesh Raman
- Department of Psychiatry, JSS Hospital, Mysuru 570 004, India
| | - Mohan Kakola
- Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns, Krishna Rajendra Hospital, Mysuru 570 001, India
| | | | - Catherine Robinson
- Social Care and Society, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
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Rosenberg S, Hickie I. Shaping Mental Health Reform - Key Tasks for an Incoming Government. Australas Psychiatry 2022; 30:746-749. [PMID: 35852298 DOI: 10.1177/10398562221115637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To describe a recent process by which mental health service sector leaders identified key elements of strategic, systemic and structural mental health reform. These elements could guide an incoming Federal government. METHOD The paper describes the process undertaken by the Sydney Mental Health Policy Forum between 2019 and 2022. This work generated principles, key domains and finally a set of actions. RESULTS Five immediate actions were identified that are cost neutral or require minimal investment. Five further actions requiring realignment of existing funds and/or new funds were also identified. CONCLUSIONS The task of mental health reform in Australia is both large and overdue. Continued investment in fragmented or piecemeal programmes and services will not propel desired change. Reform must facilitate new regional control of planning, funding and responding to community mental health needs. The actions identified by the Forum set out a menu of opportunities to guide reform over the life of the next Parliament, starting now.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ian Hickie
- Brain & Mind Centre, 4334University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
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LaMonica HM, Iorfino F, Lee GY, Piper S, Occhipinti JA, Davenport TA, Cross S, Milton A, Ospina-Pinillos L, Whittle L, Rowe SC, Dowling M, Stewart E, Ottavio A, Hockey S, Cheng VWS, Burns J, Scott EM, Hickie IB. Informing the Future of Integrated Digital and Clinical Mental Health Care: Synthesis of the Outcomes From Project Synergy. JMIR Ment Health 2022; 9:e33060. [PMID: 34974414 PMCID: PMC8943544 DOI: 10.2196/33060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2021] [Revised: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Globally, there are fundamental shortcomings in mental health care systems, including restricted access, siloed services, interventions that are poorly matched to service users' needs, underuse of personal outcome monitoring to track progress, exclusion of family and carers, and suboptimal experiences of care. Health information technologies (HITs) hold great potential to improve these aspects that underpin the enhanced quality of mental health care. OBJECTIVE Project Synergy aimed to co-design, implement, and evaluate novel HITs, as exemplified by the InnoWell Platform, to work with standard health care organizations. The goals were to deliver improved outcomes for specific populations under focus and support organizations to enact significant system-level reforms. METHODS Participating health care organizations included the following: Open Arms-Veterans & Families Counselling (in Sydney and Lismore, New South Wales [NSW]); NSW North Coast headspace centers for youth (Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Grafton, Lismore, and Tweed Heads); the Butterfly Foundation's National Helpline for eating disorders; Kildare Road Medical Centre for enhanced primary care; and Connect to Wellbeing North Coast NSW (administered by Neami National), for population-based intake and assessment. Service users, families and carers, health professionals, and administrators of services across Australia were actively engaged in the configuration of the InnoWell Platform to meet service needs, identify barriers to and facilitators of quality mental health care, and highlight potentially the best points in the service pathway to integrate the InnoWell Platform. The locally configured InnoWell Platform was then implemented within the respective services. A mixed methods approach, including surveys, semistructured interviews, and workshops, was used to evaluate the impact of the InnoWell Platform. A participatory systems modeling approach involving co-design with local stakeholders was also undertaken to simulate the likely impact of the platform in combination with other services being considered for implementation within the North Coast Primary Health Network to explore resulting impacts on mental health outcomes, including suicide prevention. RESULTS Despite overwhelming support for integrating digital health solutions into mental health service settings and promising impacts of the platform simulated under idealized implementation conditions, our results emphasized that successful implementation is dependent on health professional and service readiness for change, leadership at the local service level, the appropriateness and responsiveness of the technology for the target end users, and, critically, funding models being available to support implementation. The key places of interoperability of digital solutions and a willingness to use technology to coordinate health care system use were also highlighted. CONCLUSIONS Although the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the widespread acceptance of very basic digital health solutions, Project Synergy highlights the critical need to support equity of access to HITs, provide funding for digital infrastructure and digital mental health care, and actively promote the use of technology-enabled, coordinated systems of care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haley M LaMonica
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Frank Iorfino
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Grace Yeeun Lee
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Sarah Piper
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Jo-An Occhipinti
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | | | - Shane Cross
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Alyssa Milton
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | | | - Lisa Whittle
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Shelley C Rowe
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Mitchell Dowling
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Elizabeth Stewart
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Antonia Ottavio
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia.,InnoWell Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia
| | - Samuel Hockey
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | | | | | - Elizabeth M Scott
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Ian B Hickie
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
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Berardi C, Hinwood M, Smith A, Melia A, Paolucci F. Barriers and facilitators to the integration of digital technologies in mental health systems: A protocol for a qualitative systematic review. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0259995. [PMID: 34807937 PMCID: PMC8608309 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Digital technology has the potential to improve health outcomes and health system performance in fragmented and under-funded mental health systems. Despite this potential, the integration of digital technology tools into mental health systems has been relatively poor. This is a protocol for a synthesis of qualitative evidence that will aim to determine the barriers and facilitators to integrating digital technologies in mental health systems and classify them in contextual domains at individual, organisational and system levels. METHODS AND ANALYSIS The methodological framework for systematic review of qualitative evidence described in Lockwood et al. will be applied to this review. A draft search strategy was developed in collaboration with an experienced senior health research librarian. A systematic search of Medline, Embase, Scopus, PsycInfo, Web of Science and Google Scholar, as well as hand searching of reference lists and reviews will identify relevant studies for inclusion. Study selection will be carried out independently by two authors, with discrepancies resolved by consensus. The quality of selected studies will be assessed using JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research. Data will be charted using JBI QUARI Data Extraction Tool for Qualitative Research. Findings will be defined and classified both deductively in a priori conceptual framework and inductively by a thematic analysis. Results will be reported based on the Enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research. The level of confidence of the findings will be assessed using GRADE-CERQual. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION This study does not require ethics approval. The systematic review will inform policy and practices around improving the integration of digital technologies into mental health care systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Berardi
- Newcastle Business School, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
| | - Madeleine Hinwood
- School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
| | - Angela Smith
- Hunter New England Health Libraries, Hunter New England Local Health District, New Lambton, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Adrian Melia
- Newcastle Business School, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
| | - Francesco Paolucci
- Newcastle Business School, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
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Iorfino F, Piper SE, Prodan A, LaMonica HM, Davenport TA, Lee GY, Capon W, Scott EM, Occhipinti JA, Hickie IB. Using Digital Technologies to Facilitate Care Coordination Between Youth Mental Health Services: A Guide for Implementation. FRONTIERS IN HEALTH SERVICES 2021; 1:745456. [PMID: 36926493 PMCID: PMC10012639 DOI: 10.3389/frhs.2021.745456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Enhanced care coordination is essential to improving access to and navigation between youth mental health services. By facilitating better communication and coordination within and between youth mental health services, the goal is to guide young people quickly to the level of care they need and reduce instances of those receiving inappropriate care (too much or too little), or no care at all. Yet, it is often unclear how this goal can be achieved in a scalable way in local regions. We recommend using technology-enabled care coordination to facilitate streamlined transitions for young people across primary, secondary, more specialised or hospital-based care. First, we describe how technology-enabled care coordination could be achieved through two fundamental shifts in current service provisions; a model of care which puts the person at the centre of their care; and a technology infrastructure that facilitates this model. Second, we detail how dynamic simulation modelling can be used to rapidly test the operational features of implementation and the likely impacts of technology-enabled care coordination in a local service environment. Combined with traditional implementation research, dynamic simulation modelling can facilitate the transformation of real-world services. This work demonstrates the benefits of creating a smart health service infrastructure with embedded dynamic simulation modelling to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes through participatory and data driven health service planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank Iorfino
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Sarah E Piper
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Ante Prodan
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,School of Computer, Data and Mathematical Sciences, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Haley M LaMonica
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - Grace Yeeun Lee
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - William Capon
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Elizabeth M Scott
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Jo-An Occhipinti
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Ian B Hickie
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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