Washington State’s Adapted Service Delivery Model for Young Adults Experiencing First Episode Psychosis (FEP): Year 1 Pilot Site Results

Maria Monroe-DeVita, Michael McDonell, Emily Leickly, Roselyn Peterson, MacKenzie Hughes, Shannon Blajeski, Jeffery Roskelley, Sarah Kopelovich

Objective: Team-based service delivery models utilizing Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) principles have been established as best practice for serving people experiencing first episode psychosis (FEP). Such models include Supported Education and Employment, Family Education, psychotherapy and skills training (e.g., Individual Resiliency Training [IRT]), psychiatric services/medication management, and case management. Washington State’s roll-out of FEP services began with a multidisciplinary team called New Journeys, based in a community mental health (CMH) agency in rural Eastern Washington. The objective of this poster is to report on Year 1 pilot service utilization, implementation and outcome results for the New Journeys FEP program in Washington State.

Methods: New Journeys employs a specific CSC FEP early intervention model, called NAVIGATE, with a few adaptations including: 1) utilization of the Oregon Early Assessment and Support Alliance (EASA) approach to community outreach and education, 2) more focus on clinician skill development in differential diagnosis (also provided by EASA), and 3) employment of peer specialists as providers on the multidisciplinary team. Admission requirements include: 1) age range of 15-25 years old, 2) a diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective/schizophreniform disorders, delusional disorder, or psychosis not otherwise specified, and 3) duration of psychotic symptoms > 1 week and < 2 years. Each client participant completes a monthly assessment using an online database called the EBP Toolkit, which reports on client-level and service-level outcomes (e.g., number of previous hospitalizations). Qualitative interviews with clients, family members/natural supports, New Journeys clinicians, agency leaders, and community referrers to the program will be conducted nine months post-initial implementation, in May 2016, in order to gather further implementation, feasibility and acceptability data. These qualitative findings will be analyzed with ATLAS.ti and included with the quantitative outcome and service utilization findings in our poster presentation. Results: The New Journeys team currently consists of four providers serving 12 clients. Of the clients receiving services, 41% are male, the average age is 18.4 years old, and the average DUP experienced by the clients is 15 months. This poster will present data from clients receiving an array of diverse services provided by New Journeys.

Conclusions: The authors report on a burgeoning effort in Washington State to adapt existing FEP models. Implementation and evaluation of a FEP team such as New Journeys will help to determine the feasibility of an adapted NAVIGATE model to address the needs of people experiencing FEP as state policy makers plan for expansion of such programs across Washington State.