Patient and parent satisfaction with intensive, hospital-networked home treatment

Due to the increasing importance of effective, patient-oriented treatment options for mentally ill children and adolescents, new alternatives to established inpatient and outpatient care in child and adolescent psychiatry have to be found. Intensive cross-sectoral treatment settings may be an alternative but have not yet been evaluated or implemented in routine care. The objective of this randomized study was to compare and assess satisfaction with a new model of care within the underlying BeZuHG (behandelt zu Hause gesund werden, treated at home become healthy) study with regular inpatient care (TAU). Patients in BeZuHG received early discharge from inpatient care followed by 3 months of intensive home treatment enhanced by clinical elements. Youths and parents were asked to fill in a patient satisfaction questionnaire (BesT) at completion of treatment. Participants in the study were evaluated between April 2012 and January 2013. Neither BeZuHG nor inpatient care was clearly superior. Youths in the control group stated a higher satisfaction with the overall treatment than youths in the BeZuHG group (p = 0.031), while youths in the BeZuHG group named a significantly higher satisfaction with the home treatment component than with the inpatient component of treatment (p = 0.007). Patient satisfaction could be shown for inpatient and BeZuHG treatment at discharge. Data may change at follow-up. A long-term follow-up should be implemented to confirm these results or to allow other conclusions.