THE CASE-CONFERENCING PROJECT - A FIRST STEP TOWARDS SHARED CARE BETWEEN GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS AND A MENTAL-HEALTH-SERVICE

Objectives: The objectives of this study were: (i) to improve general practitioners' knowledge of the mental disorders they commonly treat, and to increase their confidence in managing people with these disorde rs; and (ii) to increase general practitioners' familiarity with the L ogan-Beaudesert Mental Health Service. Method: Eleven general practiti oners met with psychiatrists from the Logan-Beaudesert Mental Health S ervice in sb 2-hour sessions held at monthly intervals. Each session c omprised a teaching component, a consumer interview and a case-confere nce. Outcomes were measured using an objective test of general practit ioners' knowledge, a subjective test of their confidence in dealing wi th mental health problems, and satisfaction surveys for participating consumers, general practitioners and psychiatrists. Results: On the ob jective test, the scores of IO out of the 11 general practitioners imp roved (p<0.05). On the subjective test, the ranked scores improved in nine out of the II cases (p<0.05). Consumers, general practitioners an d psychiatrists expressed their satisfaction with the format and conte nt of the course. Conclusions: Having improved the knowledge of a grou p of general practitioners who are familiar with the functioning of th e Logan-Beaudesert Mental Health Service, the stage is now set to proc eed to the next step: the shared-care project.