Early Psychosis Intervention and Primary Care: A Mixed Methods Study of Family Physician Knowledge, Attitudes, Preferences, and Needs

• Published in: Community mental health journal Vol. 60; no. 5; pp. 898 - 907
• Main Authors: Carter, Brooke, Rodrigues, Rebecca, Edwards, Jordan, Jan, Saadia Hameed, Ryan, Bridget L., Booth, Richard G., Archie, Suzanne, Anderson, Kelly K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.07.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Attitudes; Community and Environmental Psychology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dentistry; Early intervention; Early Medical Intervention; Families & family life; Family physicians; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Intervention; Interviews; Interviews as Topic; Knowledge; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental health; Middle Aged; Mixed methods research; Neurosciences; Ontario; Original Paper; Physicians; Physicians, Family - psychology; Primary care; Primary Health Care; Psychiatry; Psychosis; Psychotic Disorders - psychology; Psychotic Disorders - therapy; Qualitative Research; Questionnaires; Recruitment; Specialists; Surveys and Questionnaires; Ontario; Early psychosis; Qualitative; Primary care; Family physicians
• ISSN: 0010-3853; 1573-2789
• DOI: 10.1007/s10597-024-01242-1

Family physicians (FPs) play an important but underappreciated role in the pathways to care for people with early psychosis. We conducted a mixed-methods study to describe the knowledge, attitudes, preferences, and needs of FPs towards the recognition and management of early psychosis. We sent a cross-sectional postal survey to a random sample of FPs in Ontario, Canada, and conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with twenty. FPs were generally aware of important early psychosis symptoms, however, there were some knowledge gaps. Among surveyed FPs, 25% were unsure of the availability of early psychosis intervention services in their region, and most (80%) would prefer to co-manage with specialists. In the qualitative interviews, FPs expressed varied comfort levels in recognizing psychosis, and that timely access to psychiatry was a main concern. Our findings suggest that FPs require better support in recognizing and managing early psychosis and facilitating connections with specialized care.