Information Campaigns: 10 Years of Experience in the Early Treatment and Intervention in Psychosis (TIPS) Study

By Inge Joa, RN; Jan Olav Johannessen, MD; Tor K. Larsen, MD; Thomas H. McGlashan, MD

This article presents an overview of the strategies developed and implemented from 1997 to 2007 in an early detection site in Norway as part of the early Treatment and Intervention in Psychosis (TIPS) study. These strategies include intensive Information Campaigns (ICs) about the signs and symptoms of psychosis and easy access to low-threshold detection teams for rapid case identification. Few, if any other studies of first-episode psychosis, have used such a system over so many years in a regular and repeated fashion. The TIPS early intervention program reduced the healthcare sector’s median duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) in first-episode schizophrenia from 15 weeks to 4.5 weeks using a combination of these easy-access detection teams and massive ICs that targeted diverse audiences. Data on 5,230 referrals are presented in this article, along with their sources of referral and the actual number of cases who were identified with a first episode of psychosis via the detection teams as the initial contact point with specialized mental health services. The TIPS study has shown that such strategies are a vital part of bringing persons with first-episode psychosis into adequate treatment earlier, thereby reducing DUP.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Inge Joa, RN; Jan Olav Johannessen, MD; and Tor K. Larsen, MD, are with the Stavanger University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Regional Centre for Clinical Research in Psychosis, Stavanger, Norway. Thomas H. McGlashan, MD, is with Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, CT.

Ms. Joa, Dr. Johannessen, Dr. Larsen, and Dr. McGlashan have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

1. Explain the goals of the Early Treatment and Intervention in Psychosis (TIPS) study.
2. Describe the strategies employed by the TIPS study to achieve its aims, especially through the utilization of information campaigns.
3. Discuss the results of the TIPS study in terms of community median duration of untreated psychosis (DUP).