Research Directions in C-L Psychiatry: Where We Are and Where We're Going

9:45-10:15 AM: Evidence for Integrated Care Across the Lifespan (Dr. Gordon)
To address the burden of mental illness, there is a need to further integrate behavioral health into broader health care settings. In his presentation, Dr. Gordon will discuss how the National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) focus on integrated care across the lifespan advances its mission. Several NIMH-supported research initiatives will be highlighted that demonstrate next-generation collaborative care.

10:15-11:00 AMWhere Next for Inpatient C-L Psychiatry? Implications of The HOME Study (Drs. Walker and Sharpe)
After emergency admission to a general hospital, older people often go on to have long inpatient stays. These long stays are a problem because they increase the risk of adverse outcomes for patients and increase the cost of care for the hospital. Many interventions have been designed to address this problem, but none have been found to be effective in randomised trials. Given that psychiatric disorders and psychosocial problems are highly prevalent in this inpatient population, and are associated with longer stays, could consultation-liaison psychiatry help?

The HOME Study, the largest randomized trial of consultation-liaison psychiatry ever done, aimed to answer this question. The HOME Study included 2,744 older medical patients in three hospitals and evaluated the effect of a proactive and integrated consultation-liaison psychiatry (PICLP) service on the time they spent in hospital.

We will discuss the findings of The HOME Study, and discuss their implications for the future of both clinical practice and research in our specialty.