#Integrity mental health serial#
#Integrity mental health skin#

Minimum standards for care in Australian healthcare settings have been recognised through the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards 2. Many of the causes for this poor physical health are not well addressed by clinicians but, with modification, could potentially reduce the severity of frailty, and consequently morbidity and mortality. It is recognised that people with mental illness experience reduced physical health and the onset of frailty at an earlier age when compared to the general population 1.

#Integrity mental health serial#

Serial data demonstrated improvement in identifying consumers at risk and implementing pressure injury prevention strategies.

#Integrity mental health skin#

Additional strategies to support the model of care were refined by a focus group with the skin integrity champions which determined what the model needed to provide in these unique settings. Baseline data demonstrated the need to improve pressure injury risk assessment and risk reduction. The need for change was derived from an auditing framework developed specifically for measuring pressure injury prevention bundles of care in mental health and drug and alcohol settings.

Champions were recruited, inducted and supported to drive practice change in their units. The model was a district-wide program which relied on front line clinicians in each unit taking on the role of a ‘skin integrity champion’. In our health district, we sought to extend a model of care for wound prevention and management into the mental health and drug and alcohol (MHDA) services where many consumers are not necessarily in the older age group but are frail due to their mental and physical morbidities. Historically, the focus of prevention programs has been in acute care settings, but skin vulnerability has been recognised in other settings, in particular where consumers are older and frail. Pressure injuries are a significant problem across the healthcare system.