Grant: Catalyst Gr.: Quadruple Aim and Equity-National Mental Health Service Standards

Early psychosis intervention (EPI) is the treatment model of choice for young people with psychosis. Programs are guided by a set of provincial standards in Ontario and some other provinces. One standard concerns "graduation" as EPI is designed to be an intensive, time-limited service, with most clients staying in the program for approximately 3 years. There is little detail to guide discharge processes and how programs should determine what level of care clients will need upon discharge. Furthermore, the standards do not account for the fact that much of current care is delivered virtually, and the complexity this adds to care transitions. If clients do not get access to the right type of care after discharge from EPI, they are more likely to experience poor outcomes. In this project, we will work closely with an advisory group including researchers, clinicians, clients and families with lived experience to develop tools and a protocol to support discharge. We will do this by reviewing the literature to identify tools and then revising the tools based on feedback from focus groups with clinicians, clients and families. We will also create an evaluation plan to prepare us for the next step which will be to test out the tools in practice. Collaboration with the Canadian Consortium for Early Intervention in Psychosis and co-investigators who are leaders in provinces other than Ontario will help support expansion nationally in future phases. A clearly operationalized discharge process can help inform the development of future national standards for EPI services.