Abstract
“Early intervention and prevention in psychotic disorders is increasingly seen as having the potential to produce better outcomes for people who have developed these disorders.”[1] However, the operationalisation of this hypothesis is less clear, and the emphasis to date has been on specialised services within large metropolitan areas.
This paper will describe an initiative in the provision of best possible care in early psychosis undertaken by Southern Area Health Service, NSW, a small predominantly rural service with few resources and a scattered and attenuated population. It will demonstrate how a mainstreamed early intervention program can be effective and efficient, providing it pays careful attention to partnerships in early identification, and the absorption into the health service culture of sound principles, practices and processes.
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