Physical Health of People with Mental Illness: A Snapshot of Consumer Engagement in the Provision of Care in Primary Care

Primary care is crucial to the health of people with mental illness. However, there is limited information on their reported engagement in this setting. This study surveyed 100 people with mental illness who had a general practitioner or a general practitioner and a case manager from a tertiary mental health service to determine their engagement level with their GP and what interventions they received to manage their health. Forty-four per cent had their psychotropic medications primarily prescribed by their GP, and 58% reported visiting their GP for physical health problems. Ninety-four point nine percent of participants aged 50 years and over had not received government age-recommended preventive health checks. Only 62% of participants reported being screened by their GP for psychotropic side effects. Primary care plays a crucial role in providing physical and mental health care, but service users report gaps in service. The findings suggest a need to support primary care professionals further to coordinate care across primary and secondary care settings.

初级保健 (primary care) 对精神疾病患者的健康至关重要。然而，目前关于该群体在初级保健场景中的自述参与度相关报道仍较为有限。本研究针对来自某三级精神卫生服务 (tertiary mental health service) 机构的100名精神疾病患者开展调研，这些患者要么仅配有全科医生 (general practitioner，简称GP)，要么同时配有全科医生与个案管理员，旨在明确其与全科医生的互动参与程度，以及为管理自身健康所接受的各类干预措施。其中44%的患者的精神药物 (psychotropic medications) 主要由其全科医生开具，另有58%的患者表示曾因躯体健康问题就诊于全科医生。年龄在50岁及以上的参与者中，有94.9%未接受过政府推荐的适龄预防性健康检查。仅有62%的参与者表示曾由其全科医生针对精神药物不良反应进行筛查。初级保健在提供躯体与精神健康照护方面发挥着关键作用，但服务使用者反馈当前服务仍存在诸多缺口。本研究结果表明，需进一步支持初级保健从业者，以协调跨初级与二级医疗场景的健康照护服务。