Social support as a catalyst for changes in mental healthcare usage: insights from a four-year cohort study

Matching intensity to people's needs and circumstances requires rethinking traditional care pathways and aligning them with personal recovery goals by reducing dependency on professionals where possible. Social support is recognized as a crucial factor in mental healthcare usage, and this study examined its role in how the intensity of mental healthcare is adjusted.

We analyzed data from a four-year naturalistic cohort study of Dutch individuals with mental disorders (n = 293). The Social Network Map was employed to assess social support. The Mental Healthcare Intensity Scale measured healthcare usage. A linear mixed-effects model was utilized to explore the relationship between social support and healthcare intensity, while controlling for demographic variables and healthcare usage one year earlier.

Previous levels of social support significantly influenced the intensity of mental healthcare. Participants with little support saw minimal changes in the intensity of the care they received. However, those with more support experienced dynamic changes, which differed significantly from those in the previous year. This effect was both positive and negative. It showed that social support acts as a catalyst by either escalating or deescalating the intensity of care needed.

Social support plays a vital role in adjustments in the intensity of mental healthcare. This underscores the need for mental health professionals to incorporate social support assessments into clinical evaluations and be aware of this effect when deciding on the intensity of mental healthcare needed for people with a mental illness.