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. 2024 Jul;60(5):898-907.
doi: 10.1007/s10597-024-01242-1. Epub 2024 Mar 5.

Early Psychosis Intervention and Primary Care: A Mixed Methods Study of Family Physician Knowledge, Attitudes, Preferences, and Needs

Brooke Carter #  1 , Rebecca Rodrigues #  1 , Jordan Edwards  2 , Saadia Hameed Jan  3 , Bridget L Ryan  1   3 , Richard G Booth  4 , Suzanne Archie  5 , Kelly K Anderson  6   7 ; project co-investigators
Affiliations

Early Psychosis Intervention and Primary Care: A Mixed Methods Study of Family Physician Knowledge, Attitudes, Preferences, and Needs

Brooke Carter et al. Community Ment Health J. 2024 Jul.

Abstract

Family physicians (FPs) play an important but underappreciated role in the pathways to care for people with early psychosis. We conducted a mixed-methods study to describe the knowledge, attitudes, preferences, and needs of FPs towards the recognition and management of early psychosis. We sent a cross-sectional postal survey to a random sample of FPs in Ontario, Canada, and conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with twenty. FPs were generally aware of important early psychosis symptoms, however, there were some knowledge gaps. Among surveyed FPs, 25% were unsure of the availability of early psychosis intervention services in their region, and most (80%) would prefer to co-manage with specialists. In the qualitative interviews, FPs expressed varied comfort levels in recognizing psychosis, and that timely access to psychiatry was a main concern. Our findings suggest that FPs require better support in recognizing and managing early psychosis and facilitating connections with specialized care.

Keywords: Early psychosis; Family physicians; Primary care; Qualitative.

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References

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