Linkage strategies
| Category | Strategy | Present | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct collaborative activities | Link working | ✓✓ | Predominantly informal links and localised, some OPMH specific |
| Co-location | ✓✓ | Various services co-located across the region, mainly health and some aged care services | |
| Consultation liaison | ✓✓ | OPMHS role (local) and psychiatric and geriatrician review (visiting) but GPs and social care services looking for support | |
| Care management | ✓✓ | Good within and across services, some gaps when the consumer has needs that cross health and social care—no overarching cross-sector coordination | |
| Agreed guidelines | Protocols | ✓ | Protocols for general mental health—none OPMH specific that cross health and social care |
| Stepped care | ✓✓ | Predominantly between health and aged care | |
| Communication systems | Enhanced communication | ✓✓ | Various meetings in the region but no overarching formal mechanism with commitment from health and social care; Informal mechanism working well in small subregion |
| Enhanced referral | ✓✓ | Range of formal and informal process in place but some lack of knowledge about these across services in the region | |
| Electronic communication system | ✓ | Limited to health services | |
| Service agreement | Service agreement | ✓ | No specific agreements for OPMH other than more general MOU between police, SAAS and mental health. |
Criteria: Older people's mental health (OPMH) specific; regional as compared to localised; and formal and regular compared to ad hoc
No criteria evident (X) through to all three criteria evident (✓✓✓).
For full definition of linkage strategies see Fuller et al.19
GPs, general practitioners; MOU, memorandum of understanding; OPMHS, Older Person's Mental Health Service; SAAS, South Australian Ambulance Service.