Analysis of the demand for mental health consultation and liaison programmes: a comprehensive view

TL;DR

This study analyzes the demand for mental health consultation in hospitals to improve integrated care for patients with psychiatric co-morbidities.

Contribution

The study provides insights into referral patterns and episodic diagnoses to optimize mental health liaison services.

Findings

Most referrals were for anxious-depressive symptoms, acute stress, and confusional syndromes.

The majority of patients did not need further mental health facility referrals after consultation.

Integrated care strategies are needed to improve collaboration between services for holistic patient care.

Abstract

The mental health consultation and liaison programme plays a crucial role in comprehensive medical care by addressing psychiatric co-morbidities in hospitalised patients.

The aim of this study is to analyse demand and assess referral patterns to the mental health consultation and liaison programme in order to identify areas for improvement and optimise the provision of care.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted by analysing records of referrals to the mental health consultation and liaison programme over a one-year period. Demographic data, origin of demand, type of request, episodic diagnosis, psychiatric diagnoses, follow-up and discharge referral were collected.

A total of 1180 referrals to the mental health consultation and liaison programme were reviewed. Most of the episodic diagnoses were related to anxious-depressive symptomatology, acute stress reaction and acute confusional syndrome. The majority of patients followed up did not require further referral to mental health facilities.

Analysis of the demand for the mental health consultation and liaison programme helps us to optimise care on psychiatric co-morbidities. These results support the importance of integrated care that addresses both medical and psychiatric aspects of inpatient health. Strategies to improve collaboration between different services should be implemented to ensure optimal care and provide a holistic approach.

None Declared