[NYAPRS Enews] Study: People w Psych Dis. Return to Work Faster w/ Integrated Care

[Matt Canuteson]

NYAPRS Note: A recently released study from the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health (CAMH) in Canada has found that people with psychiatric
disabilities return to employment faster when their primary care
doctor(s) actively partners with mental health professionals.

Individuals on short-term disability were found to be more likely to
avoid transitioning to long-term disability, have shorter stays on
disability leave, and employers saw cost savings. Eighty-five percent of
participants treated in a collaborative-care team were able to return to
work, compared to 63% who received standard care. Just 7% of those
receiving collaborative care transitioned to long-term disability,
compared to 31% treated by family physicians alone.

 

 

Employees On Leave For Mental Illness Return To Work Sooner When Family
Doctor Works With Mental Health Professional: Study

July 22nd 2009

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2009/22/c7799.html

    

TORONTO, July 22 /CNW/ - Individuals who are on short-term disability
leave due to mental illness may return to work sooner when their family
doctor actively partners with a psychiatrist or other mental health
professional, according to a new study from the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health (CAMH).

 

When family physicians work collaboratively with specialists, the result
seems to benefit both the employee and the employer, says study author
Dr. Carolyn Dewa, Program Head for CAMH's Work and Well-being Research
and Evaluation Program at CAMH. Individuals on short-term disability are
more likely to avoid transitioning to long-term disability, and to have
a shorter disability leave, while employers see a cost savings in
disability payments.

 

Estimates show that about ten percent of the working population is
diagnosed with depression, anxiety, or other mental illness each year.
In Canada, this represents about $17 billion in productivity losses to
the economy.

 

Collaborative Care

The demonstration project led by Dewa is the first study ever to
evaluate the effect of partnering family physicians with a psychiatrist
or other mental health professional when treating patients on short-term
disability leave due to a mental health problem.

 

"One of the barriers to effective mental health treatment is the
fragmentation that often exists between different types of health care
providers," says Dewa. "When people are in distress it is appropriate to
go to their family doctor. Family physicians may refer their patients to
specialists, but they are not necessarily partnering with the mental
health professional. The result can be fragmentation of care. We wanted
to see if a collaborative-care model could make a difference," she says.

 

The demonstration study, published in the Canadian Journal of
Psychiatry, looked at employees on short-term disability leave over one
year. Dewa and her team compared standard care - delivered by a single
family physician who does not stay in active collaboration with the
specialists - to a teamwork model that emphasizes availability of
specialty mental health resources, increased communication between
family doctors and mental health professionals, and follow-up care.

 

The Ontario government stressed the importance of collaborative care in
its recently announced mental health strategy.

 

Cost Savings To Employers

Study participants receiving collaborative care returned to work at
higher rates than those treated by a family physician alone, the study
found. The average cost savings to employers was an average of $503 per
patient.

 

"Our findings demonstrate that partnering or collaborative care is more
cost-effective, increasing the amount of people who are able to return
to work while decreasing the number of people transitioning to long-term
disability.

The cost of metal illness is a large burden on the economy, but if we
are able to find new ways to work together, we can provide better care
and decrease these losses," says Dewa.

 

Eighty-five percent of participants treated in a collaborative-care team
were able to return to work, compared to 63% who received standard care.
Just 7% of those receiving collaborative care transitioned to long-term
disability, compared to 31% treated by family physicians alone.

 

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest
mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the
world's leading research centres in the area of addiction and mental
health. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy
development, prevention and health promotion to help transform the lives
of people affected by mental health and addiction issues.

 

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2009/22/c7799.html

 

 

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