The use of indicators for the management of Mental Health Services.

OBJECTIVE: to identify indicators that can be used in the management of Mental Health Services. METHOD: an integrative review in which we adopted the Population, Concept, and Context strategy to formulate the following Guiding Question: "Which indicators can be used for the management of mental health services?". RESULTS: a total of 22 articles were included and divided into two main groups: countries with initial high income (54%) as well as low- and middle-income countries (46%). We identified 5 studies that had experienced the use of indicators, 5 studies that had reported partial implementation, 9 studies that did not report use or implementation, 1 study on the indicator selection process, 1 as an implementation pilot, and a final study with a discussion for implementation. High-income countries also find it difficult to implement mental health indicators. The main difficulties in adopting the use of indicators are lack of basic mental health services, financial resources, legislation, political interest, and guidelines for its management. CONCLUSION: it is unusual to find a descriptive comparison of quality monitoring programs at the system level in the technical-scientific literature related to mental health indicators.

The use of indicators for the management of Mental Health Services / O uso de indicadores para a gestão dos Serviços de Saúde Mental / El uso de indicadores para la gestión de Servicios de Salud Mental

Objective: to identify indicators that can be used in the management of Mental Health Services. Method: an integrative review in which we adopted the Population, Concept, and Context strategy to formulate the following Guiding Question: "Which indicators can be used for the management of mental health services?". Results: a total of 22 articles were included and divided into two main groups: countries with initial high income (54%) as well as low- and middle-income countries (46%). We identified 5 studies that had experienced the use of indicators, 5 studies that had reported partial implementation, 9 studies that did not report use or implementation, 1 study on the indicator selection process, 1 as an implementation pilot, and a final study with a discussion for implementation. High-income countries also find it difficult to implement mental health indicators. The main difficulties in adopting the use of indicators are lack of basic mental health services, financial resources, legislation, political interest, and guidelines for its management. Conclusion: it is unusual to find a descriptive comparison of quality monitoring programs at the system level in the technical-scientific literature related to mental health indicators.

Objetivo: identificar indicadores que possam ser utilizados na gestão dos Serviços de Saúde Mental. Método: revisão integrativa em que adotou-se a estratégia População, Conceito e Contexto para formular a seguinte questão norteadora: "Quais indicadores podem ser usados para a gestão dos serviços de saúde mental?". Resultados: um total de 22 artigos foram incluídos e divididos em dois grupos principais: países com renda inicial alta (54%), bem como países de baixa e média renda (46%). Identificamos 5 estudos que experimentaram o uso de indicadores, 5 estudos que relataram implementação parcial, 9 estudos que não relataram uso ou implementação, 1 estudo sobre o processo de seleção de indicadores, 1 como piloto de implementação e um estudo final com uma discussão para implementação. Os países de alta renda também têm dificuldade para implementar indicadores de saúde mental. As principais dificuldades na adoção do uso de indicadores são a falta de serviços básicos de saúde mental, recursos financeiros, legislação, interesse político e diretrizes para sua gestão. Conclusão: é incomum encontrar uma comparação descritiva de programas de monitoramento de qualidade no nível de sistema na literatura técnico-científica relacionada a indicadores de saúde mental.

Objetivo: identificar indicadores que se puedan utilizar en la gestión de Servicios de Salud Mental. Método: revisión integradora en la que adoptamos la estrategia Población, Concepto y Contexto para formular la siguiente Pregunta Orientadora: "¿Qué indicadores se pueden utilizar para la gestión de servicios de salud mental?". Resultados: se incluyó un total de 22 artículos y se los dividió en dos grupos principales: países con ingresos altos iniciales (54%) y países con ingresos bajos y medios (46%). Identificamos 5 estudios que habían experimentado el uso de indicadores, 5 estudios que habían reportado implementación parcial, 9 estudios que no reportaron uso o implementación, 1 estudio sobre el proceso de selección de indicadores, 1 como piloto de implementación y un estudio final con una discusión para la implementación. Los países de ingresos altos también tienen dificultades para implementar indicadores de salud mental. Las principales dificultades para adoptar el uso de indicadores son la falta de servicios básicos de salud mental, recursos económicos, legislación, interés político y directrices para su gestión. Conclusión: es inusual encontrar una comparación descriptiva de los programas de monitoreo de la calidad a nivel de sistema en la literatura técnico-científica relacionada con indicadores de salud mental.

Using Mental Health Indicators to Improve Health Care Management: A Web-based Approach.

Mental health indicators are essential for monitoring people's mental health status, developing mental health policies, and evaluating the performance of such policies. The aim of this paper is to describe the development of a web-based tool for mental health indicators capable to support the management of Brazilian mental health care networks. The SISAM is a web information system responsible for management and provision of mental health information in Brazil and it was chosen as the use case of this study. The indicators were developed as a decision support web tool for public health managers. The tool is able to calculate 11 indicators related to inpatient care. A descriptive analysis of all indicators is presented using SISAM data from 2017. The results generated by the tool are promising and could provide improvements on care monitoring, evaluation of possible trends and investments in prevention and promotion in mental health care.

A web-based information system for a regional public mental healthcare service network in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Regional networking between services that provide mental health care in Brazil's decentralized public health system is challenging, partly due to the simultaneous existence of services managed by municipal and state authorities and a lack of efficient and transparent mechanisms for continuous and updated communication between them. Since 2011, the Ribeirao Preto Medical School and the XIII Regional Health Department of the Sao Paulo state, Brazil, have been developing and implementing a web-based information system to facilitate an integrated care throughout a public regional mental health care network. CASE PRESENTATION: After a profound on-site analysis, the structure of the network was identified and a web-based information system for psychiatric admissions and discharges was developed and implemented using a socio-technical approach. An information technology team liaised with mental health professionals, health-service managers, municipal and state health secretariats and judicial authorities. Primary care, specialized community services, general emergency and psychiatric wards services, that comprise the regional mental healthcare network, were identified and the system flow was delineated. The web-based system overcame the fragmentation of the healthcare system and addressed service specific needs, enabling: detailed patient information sharing; active coordination of the processes of psychiatric admissions and discharges; real-time monitoring; the patients' status reports; the evaluation of the performance of each service and the whole network. During a 2-year period of operation, it registered 137 services, 480 health care professionals and 4271 patients, with a mean number of 2835 accesses per month. To date the system is successfully operating and further expanding. CONCLUSION: We have successfully developed and implemented an acceptable, useful and transparent web-based information system for a regional mental healthcare service network in a medium-income country with a decentralized public health system. Systematic collaboration between an information technology team and a wide range of stakeholders is essential for the system development and implementation.