Long-term monitoring and evaluation of a new system of community-based psychatric care. Integrating research, teaching and practice at the University of Verona

摘要

The South-Verona community psychiatric service (CPS) was implemented in 1978, ac-cording to Law 180, by the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Verona. Since then thisCPS provides prompt, comprehensive and coherent answers to patients' needs, psychological andsocial, as well as practical, while trying to decrease and control symptoms. Special emphasis is givento integrating different interventions, such as medication, rehabilitation, family support, and socialwork. The South-Verona experience was from the beginning associated with a long-term researchproject of monitoring and evaluating the new system of care. The research team has grown and ex-panded over the years and presently includes the following research units: a) environmental, clinicaland genetic determinants of the outcome of mental disorders; b) psychiatric register, economics andgeography of mental health; c) clinical psychopharmacology and drug epidemiology; d) brain imag-ing and neuropsychology; e) clinical psychology and communication in medicine; and f) physicalcomorbidity and health promotion in psychiatric patients. This paper summarises the main resultsof the coordinated, long-term evaluative studies conducted so far.