The Care Programme Approach: A patient perspective

Abstract

The Care Programme Approach (CPA) for patients in contact with the specialist mental health services represents a significant change in care delivery for both patients and clinicians involved with mental health services. This study explores the attitudes and experiences of one group of patients on the CPA living in an outer London borough. One hundred and three patients were asked for their views and opinions; there was a response rate of 50%. The main findings of the study indicated that patients found the CPA process difficult to understand, and that there was an over-emphasis on administering the system. There was evidence to suggest that patients were unfamiliar with their treatment programmes, and that they lacked knowledge regarding their care. The study concluded that further research to examine patient attitudes to the CPA would be beneficial, since it was not possible to make precise conclusions based on the data available here.