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Open research questions in Psychiatric care and mental health services

44 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,210 Psychiatric care and mental health services papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • 4 Future Perspectives Future studies should examine non-linear LOS-outcome relationships using restricted cubic spline models or piecewise regression to identify diagnosis-specific inflection points where marginal inpatient benefits diminish—particularly valuable for establishing evidence-based LOS reimbursement thresholds.

    Factors Influencing Length of Stay and Symptom Improvement among Psychiatric Patients by Diagnosis: Analysis of the Korea National Survey · 2026 · DOI

  • Background Psycho-oncological care in Germany Psycho-oncology deals with ‘the experience and behaviour as well as the social resources of cancer patients in connection with their cancer disease, its treatment and associated problems’. A guideline-compliant provision and implementation of psycho-oncological (PO) care remains challenging in Germany since only a fraction of cancer patients receive adequate PO care [3, 4]. Utilisation rates may still not meet patients’ care needs, which may be substantiated in multiple aspects: there is a sectoral separation of PO care structures within and between health and social services [5–7], rural areas are underserved, there is currently no legal basis for uniform area- and cost-covering financing of PO care, and to date, secure funding for the nationwide expansion of cancer counselling centres and qualified counsellors is not ensured [8, 10]. Consequently, the national cancer plan – a coordination and cooperation programme of the German Federal Ministry of Health to further develop and improve the early detection of cancer and the care of cancer patients – calls for integrating PO care into biomedical oncological care and cancer aftercare. A new form of PO care - isPO cross-sectoral psycho-oncology’ To meet the national cancer plan’s requests and improve PO care for cancer patients, a new form of care termed ‘integrated (isPO) was developed, implemented, and evaluated [12, 13] in Germany. This project aims to develop an integrated, cross-sectoral PO programme that is tailorable to different implementation sites. At the patient level, it aims to reduce newly diagnosed cancer patients’ anxiety and depression after one year of PO care. Care in isPO is provided needs-oriented with a stepped care approach in four newly established PO care networks (CNs) in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany [12, 13]. A CN comprises a cooperation between at least one certified oncological cancer centre hospital and one oncological practice. First, physicians (e.g. oncologists) refer newly diagnosed cancer patients to the isPO programme. Next, patients are screened for anxiety, depression, and psychosocial risk factors. Based on screening results, patients are allocated to one of four care levels and cared for accordingly (Supplementary Material 1). Various professions are possibly involved in care provision: case managers, trained cancer survivors called ‘isPO onco-guides’, psychosocial professionals, and licensed psychotherapists. The isPO programme also entails quality assurance and improvement structures and a new information technology-supported care documentation and assistance system called CAPSYS2020, which supports PO service providers with care documentation, coordination, and billing. Therefore, the isPO programme comprises clinical and formal administrative care aspects. Implementation of the isPO programme’s components started in 2019 in the CNs. In parallel, an independent institute externally evaluated its quality of care (QoC) and effectiveness [12, 13]. Consequently, a comprehensive evaluation study was interlinked with the isPO project. External evaluation study of the isPO programme Two frameworks were considered for externally evaluating isPO: The Medical Research Council (MRC)-Framework for the evaluation of complex interventions and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). This approach resulted in a tripartite evaluation design, including a prospective formative and summative evaluation. The summative evaluation assessed the programme’s primary (effectiveness in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS] reduction) and secondary (QoC) outcomes and its transferability. This article will focus on the secondary outcome, QoC; more specifically, focusing on PO service providers’ perspective on the programme. Evaluation results on patient experiences indicate an overall good quality of PO care within the isPO programme. Moreover, the better the QoC was assessed by isPO patients, the better they assessed their health status, work ability, or anxiety and depression levels. Cecon-Stabel et al.

    Service providers’ perspectives on the quality of care of a new complex psycho-oncological care programme in Germany – mixed methods external evaluation results · 2026 · DOI

  • Results: Psychiatrists thought specialist mental health and addictions services had been neglected during recent reforms, with 94% believing current resourcing was insufficient, and only 3% considering future planning was heading in the right direction.

    Not heading in the right direction: Five hundred psychiatrists’ views on resourcing, demand, and workforce across New Zealand mental health services · 2023 · DOI

  • Funding for CNA under the Medicare Benefits Schedule, headspace workforce development in neurocognitive screening and cognitive interventions, and tele‐neuropsychological services should be explored.

    Need for clinical neuropsychological assessment in headspace youth mental health services: A national survey of providers · 2018 · DOI

  • CONCLUSION: Although traditional-healing approaches produce a significant improvement in the signs and symptoms of psychotic disorders measured on the PANSS, they need to be further investigated, assessed and studied.

    The treatment outcome of psychotic disorders by traditional healers in central Sudan · 2012 · DOI

  • However, research and guidelines are lacking regarding how to effectively and optimally deliver CBT in a group format with appropriate consideration of group processes.

    Review of Cognitive-behavioural therapy in groups. · 2007 · DOI

  • Given the lack of agreement as to the relative importance of distance between the consumer and the supply of services, the analysis attempts to test two hypotheses : 1) that there is a spatially structured response to the supply of emergency psychiatric services provided by Montreal hospitals and 2) the geographical distribution of the users of these services is linked to three variables of which the most important is the spatial distance between the patient and the closest emergency services.

    La localisation des services d’urgence psychiatrique sur l’île de Montréal · 2006 · DOI

  • At the time, care by the state was limited to a single university neuropsychiatrie clinic and a few hospitals and hospices for the chronically ill, with a total of 1,135 beds (150 of which were in the university neuropsychiatrie clinic).

    Mental Health Care in Bulgaria since World War II · 1991 · DOI

  • The extent to which the treat ment techniques used in PSTT differ from techniques employed in open-ended therapy remains to be explored in systematic large scale agency studies and clinic studies. " 10 Further study of the definition and clinical use of the crisis ap proach in time-limited treatment is also needed.

    A Study of Crisis-Oriented Planned Short-Term Treatment: Part II · 1968 · DOI

  • : Further Studies of the Doctor as a Crucial Variable in the Outcome of Treatment with Schizophrenic Patients, American Journal of Psychiatry, September, 1960, 117: 215-223.

    Intervention in psychiatry · 1962 · DOI

  • It has been studied within neurodevelopmental psychiatric inpatient settings with mixed findings on its appropriateness, and there is a dearth of EssenCES research which has been conducted within an adolescent psychiatric inpatient setting.

    Evaluation of the EssenCES in a neurodevelopmental inpatient service for adolescents · 2017 · DOI

  • Unfortunately, its deployment in Quebec remains quite limited partly because resources are lacking to provide individual therapy and a response to emergency calls.

    La thérapie comportementale dialectique · 2014 · DOI

  • Abstract Residential treatment facilities operate under increased pressure to demonstrate outcomes, yet little is known about the outcomes monitoring practices of such facilities.

    Outcomes Monitoring After Discharge From Residential Treatment Facilities for Children and Youth · 2011 · DOI

  • High rates of multitasking and interruptions in the workflow, as seen for the psychiatrists in this study, could lead to possible medical errors, making further investigation of current working conditions necessary.

    Real time analysis of psychiatrists’ workflow in German hospitals · 2010 · DOI

  • In the cognitive-behavioral psychology literature, there are scant data on drop-out from therapy and the data available vary widely according to the definition of drop-out and the intensity of treatment.

    The efficacy of cognitive–behavioral therapy and the problem of drop‐out · 2007 · DOI

  • This book is a welcome addition to the ever-expanding field of mental-health studies that has recently drawn renewed strength from historians focusing on hitherto understudied areas (C.

    Care and Treatment of the Mentally Ill in North Wales, 1800-2000 (review) · 2005 · DOI

  • Results show that interventions reduce hospital stay about 1 1/4 days and that reduction does not depend on whether the studies were published or not, whether the discharging physician was aware of the patient's experimental condition, or whether studies were lacking in internal validity.

    A Meta-Analytic Analysis of Effects of Psychoeducational Interventions on Length of Postsurgical Hospital Stay · 1983 · DOI

  • It remains to be seen how successful university depart- ments of medicine, psychiatry, social medicine, social work, sociology, anthropology, etc.

    From hospital to community psychiatry · 1970 · DOI

  • Statistics for the prevalence of mental disof(~er in Australia's North are limited by the inadequacy of psychiatric services charged with conserving them.

    A Psychiatric Service in the North? · 1964 · DOI

  • WOODS psychiatric residents, scientific studies of the residency milieu are lacking.

    Emotional Problems of Psychiatric Residents · 1962 · DOI

  • There is some risk of paralysis from premature "research design" that is insufficient to cope with the facts as they really occur, but well able to stifle the ex ploitation of that stilI rather unique re cording, transcribing, and interpreting machine-the human being.

    Psychiatric Consultations with Patients on Medical and Surgical Wards · 1961 · DOI

  • Other phases are being used to a limited extent and still others, having to do with interpersonal and public relations, are not being utilized mainly because the value of the procedure is not clearly understood.

    The Utilization of Psychiatry in the Armed Forces<sup>†</sup> · 1939 · DOI

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44 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 1,210 Psychiatric care and mental health services papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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