Nidotherapy reduces hospital bed usage
26 January 2011
The Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King’s were part of a study which was published in The Psychiatrist which found that nidotherapy, a method which is devoted to changing the environment so it better accommodates a persons’ needs, reduced annual hospital bed usage by 110%.
Patients with comorbid substance misuse and psychosis who were referred for nidotherapy had a similar reduction in symptoms and engagement with an estimated cost saving for each patient of £14,705 per year, mostly as a consequence of reduced psychiatric bed use.
Dr Barbara Barrett, a Lecturer at the IoP, said: ‘It’s very unusual to find such clear differences in inpatient stays between treatment groups, so whilst this is only a small study the substantial impact of nidotherapy on bed usage means that it may have clinical and economic importance.’
Nidotherapy was developed and first introduced by Professor Peter Tyrer from Imperial College London as a treatment for people with complex personality disorders who had failed to respond to other treatment and was modified for those with comorbid substance misuse and psychosis. It involves the systematic assessment and modication of the persons’ environment to help minimise the impact of any form of mental disorder on the individual or on society.
The treatment does not aim to treat the patient directly; it involves an environmental analysis of personal, social and physical environments, the setting of an ideal environment for the patient’s needs and constructing a plan for environmental change (nidopathway), as well as monitoring the progress of this and making changes as necessary.
‘Nidotherapy in the treatment of substance misuse, psychosis and personality disorder: secondary analysis of a controlled trial’ is published in this month’s The Psychiatrist, to read the paper in full, please follow the link.