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Utilization of a Cardiometabolic Health Nurse – a Novel Strategy to Manage Comorbid Physical and Mental Illness

Version 2 2024-06-18, 21:40
Version 1 2023-10-24, 04:51
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-18, 21:40 authored by Brenda Happell, Robert Stanton, David ScottDavid Scott
Background Comorbid chronic illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions, and type 2 diabetes are common among people with serious mental illness. Management of comorbid illness in the mental health setting is sometimes ad hoc and poorly delivered. Use of a cardiometabolic health nurse (CHN) is proposed as one strategy to improve the delivery of physical health care to this vulnerable population. Objective To report the CHN's utilization of primary care and allied health referrals from a trial carried out in a regional community mental health service. Design Feasibility study. Mental health consumers were referred by their case manager or mental health nurse to the CHN. The CHN coordinated the physical health care of community-based mental health consumers by identifying the need for, and providing referrals to, additional services, including primary care, allied health, and community-based services. Results Sixty-two percent of participants referred to the CHN received referrals for primary care, allied health, and community-based services. Almost all referrals received follow-up by the CHN. Referrals were most commonly directed to a general practitioner and for nurse-delivered services. Conclusion The CHN role shows promise in coordinating the physical health of community-based mental health consumers. More studies on role integration and development of specific outcome measurement tools are needed.

History

Journal

Journal of Comorbidity

Volume

4

Pagination

22-28

Location

London, Eng.

ISSN

2235-042X

eISSN

2235-042X

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Issue

1

Publisher

SAGE Publications

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