Background: Early intervention teams attempt to improve outcome in schizophrenia through earlier detection and the provision of phase-specific treatments. Whilst the number of early intervention teams is growing, there is a lack of clarity over their essential structural and functional elements. Methods: A 'Delphi' exercise was carried out to identify how far there was consensus on the essential elements of early intervention teams in a group of 21 UK expert clinicians. Using published guidelines, an initial list was constructed containing 151 elements from ten categories of team structure and function. Results: Overall there was expert consensus on the importance of 136 (90%) of these elements. Of the items on which there was consensus, 106 (70.2%) were rated essential, meaning that in their absence the functioning of the team would be severely impaired. Conclusion: This degree of consensus over essential elements suggests that it is reasonable to define a model for UK early intervention teams, from which a measure of fidelity could be derived. © 2004 Marshall et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
CITATION STYLE
Marshall, M., Lockwood, A., Lewis, S., & Fiander, M. (2004). Essential elements of an early intervention service for psychosis: The opinions of expert clinicians. BMC Psychiatry, 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-4-17
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