Accelerating Access to Early Intervention Through Hospital-Wide Outreach and Enhanced Referral Support

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Mental Health
• Clinical Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR) clinics face challenges in real-world implementation, including efficiency, comorbidity, and transdiagnostic presentations.
• Early detection and intervention for psychosis-risk states are crucial for improving outcomes.
• Traditional CHR clinic models may not reach all individuals in need.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the Outreach and Enhanced Referral Support project designed to address implementation challenges in early psychosis intervention.
• To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of this novel model in a large psychiatric hospital setting.
• To report interim findings on the project's initial implementation and outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A three-phase pilot project: needs assessment, outreach training, and enhanced referral support.
• Surveys were utilized to assess feasibility, acceptability, and selected clinical outcomes.
• Data collected on referral support cases, wait times, feasibility ratings, and acceptability.

Main Results:

• Ten referral support cases were completed between July 2024 and April 2025.
• Feasibility ratings ranged from 80% to 100%, with 91.7% acceptability.
• The mean wait time for support services was 3 days, indicating efficient access.

Conclusions:

• The Outreach and Enhanced Referral Support model demonstrates feasibility and acceptability in a large psychiatric hospital.
• Preliminary findings support the potential of this model to extend early psychosis intervention beyond traditional settings.
• Larger-scale evaluation is warranted to determine the clinical impact of this innovative approach.