Early Intervention in Psychosis

Why Early Intervention

Early Intervention in Psychosis is one of the Government’s national initiatives to improve mental health services. There is strong research evidence that intervening at the earliest time after symptoms of a psychosis emerge can assist in relief of symptoms and also promote social and personal recovery.

The first three years of psychosis is known as the critical period because intervention is known to be most effective if started then. A key government target is to reduce the ‘duration of untreated psychosis’ – time from when psychosis begins to when effective treatment starts.

St.Helens and Knowsley

The 5 Boroughs Partnership Trust provides an Early Intervention in Psychosis team for St.Helens and Knowsley. The whole of Knowsley including Kirkby is covered.

What does the team do?

The team is multidisciplinary and accepts referrals for anyone age 14-35 who is experiencing a psychosis for the first time and has a duration of untreated psychosis of less than three years.

The team offers:

• A rapid response to referrals
• An early assessment
• A flexible approach to engagement
• Intensive involvement for up to three years
• Family Intervention
• Relapse Prevention
• CBT in Psychosis

14 and 15 year olds

Two posts are co-located between Knowsley Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and the Early Intervention team. This means that a 14 or 15 year old referred to CAMHS will be entitled to the full range of CAMHS services and Early Intervention in Psychosis services. There will be a smooth transition across the age barrier that usually divides CAMHS and adult services.

Links with other agencies

The team put great emphasis on linking with partner agencies in Health, Education, Social Services and the Voluntary Sector. These links will be important both in making sure that people are referred at the earliest point and also in helping people with psychosis to achieve the outcomes they desire in employment or education.

How to refer

There is no special referral form for the team so as to make it as easy as possible to refer. The team will accept referrals either by telephone or by letter. In Knowsley referrers can also access the service via the Gateway team. If a referrer is not sure, the team will welcome a telephone discussion and offer advice.

In order to reach as many people as possible, the threshold for acceptance of referrals is set low – there only needs to be a suspicion of psychosis. For the same reason use of drugs or alcohol is not an exclusion criteria for the service.

Summary of Referral Guidelines

• Resident of St.Helens and Knowsley
• Age 14-35
• Psychosis or suspicion of psychosis
• Duration of untreated psychosis less than 3 years
• For 14 and 15 year olds refer to Knowsley CAMHS.
• For 16-35 telephone or write to St.Helens and Knowsley Early Intervention in Psychosis Team.

The team is based at Lord Street Resource Centre in St.Helens until July 2007 when it will move to a new base in Whiston.

Address:

Early Intervention in Psychosis Team
Lord Street Resource Centre
St.Helens
Merseyside
WA10 2SP
Telephone: 01744 677153
Fax: 01744 677151

Raising Community Awareness about Psychosis

As well as the direct work with service users and families, the team is committed to working with other agencies to raise awareness about psychosis. We have developed a training programme which we offer free of charge. The programme can be tailored to the needs of the organisation and can be from a couple of hours to a whole day.

Principles of the Service

• Conveying messages of hope and optimism to people with psychosis and their families.
• Involving carers so that they feel respected and valued.
• Promoting social inclusion and recovery.
• Not excluding people who use alcohol or drugs.
• Making access to the service easier particularly for young people.
• Reducing hospital admissions and the need for coercive treatments.

The Early Psychosis Declaration

The above principles are enshrined in the Early Psychosis Declaration. This began as an initiative in England (The Newcastle Declaration) but has now been adopted by the World Health Organisation. A series of targets are set that aim to transform the culture of services for young people with psychosis and to challenge the stigma and discrimination in wider society.

To read about the Early Psychosis Declaration:

www.rethink.org/newcastledeclaration/

To access a wealth of information for professionals, service users and carers try these links to well-established Early Intervention services from Australia and Canada .

www.eppic.org.au

www.psychosissucks.ca