Care Programme Approach (CPA) in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

is a system of delivering

community mental health services Center for Mental Health Services''(CMHS), also known as community mental health teams (CMHT) in the United Kingdom, support or treat people with mental disorders (mental illness or mental health difficulties) in a domiciliary setting, instead o ...

to individuals diagnosed with a mental illness. It was introduced in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1991 and by 1996 become a key component of the mental health system in England. The approach requires that health and social services assess need, provided a written care plan, allocate a care coordinator, and then regularly review the plan with key stakeholders, in keeping with the

National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 The National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c 19) introduced an internal market into the supply of healthcare in the United Kingdom, making the state an 'enabler' rather than a supplier of health and social care provision.Health and S ...

History and impact

In 1999 the approach was simplified to standard and enhanced levels, the term ''

key worker A key worker, critical worker or essential worker is a public-sector or private-sector employee who is considered to provide an essential service. The term has been used in the United Kingdom in the context of workers who may find it difficult t ...

'' was changed to ''care coordinator'', and there was an emphasis on risk management, employment and leisure, and the needs of the carer. There is some criticism that the approach has changed the role of staff away from implementing clinical interventions into administrative tasks, that the policy is carried out inconsistently, and has not been well aligned to clinical models of case management. Formal review on the impact and effectiveness of this initiative has been difficult because of the variation of clinical interventions given under a CPA model.

CPA in a prison setting

A research paper by M. Georgiou and J. Jethwa discusses the purpose of the CPA model and discusses key themes in its benefits and shortcomings, in order to provide a more organized framework for care of inmates in a prison setting. The key themes are listed below.

Objectives of CPA

* Interagency collaboration * Catering to the complex needs of the patient * Ongoing care (upon release from prison) * Patient involvement in CPA, centered around them

Challenges faced when implementing CPA

* Responsibilities are not clear * Geographically deprived for program outreach * Patient has little or no awareness of CPA * Lack of understanding CPA process * Prison capacity to implement program (e.g., too many cases, not enough resources, patient dropout from CPA)

References

{{reflist, 2

External links