Katherine Boydell1,2; 1Black Dog Institute, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Australia, 2Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Canada
Psychotic disorders are serious mental disorders resulting in significant human and economic impact. Early intervention for individuals with psychosis is effective in enabling better clinical and functional outcomes, however, most specialist services in early intervention in New South Wales, Australia work within an upper age limit of 25 years. We identify the need to explore help-seeking (pathways to care) and care-receiving narratives (experiences of services/supports) of 70% of women (in NSW, Australia) who experience a first episode of psychosis (FEP) when over 25 years of age and who are, therefore, frequently excluded from specialist early intervention. There is little research on this group and consequent lack of an evidence-base to inform service design and delivery. What is clear is that: 1) a significant proportion of women experiencing FEP are excluded from specialist early intervention services as they are over the arbitrary age limit, 2) these women’s specific needs are not addressed by general or youth services, and 3) the failure to provide specialist treatment has deleterious effects for them and their children. We provide an overview of the need to examine these women’s help-seeking and care-receiving experiences via mixed methods in order to understand how to best support women at home, school/work, and within their community, and inform practices in mental health, education/employment and welfare service settings. Specific evidence-based knowledge translation strategies will be suggested to ensure that findings meaningfully impact stakeholders and influence health-care practices and policy and redress the inequity of healthcare experienced by this group of women.
