“Ideally, multi-disciplinary rheumatology services would include dedicated psychology or liaison psychiatry time, providing psychological therapies or support patients with adjusting to the diagnosis, treatment regimens, and other behavioral or lifestyle changes needed to help improve health outcomes,” she said.
“Integrating mental-health services into routine clinical care is important to reduce stigma related to mental-health problems (as mental and physical health would be seen as equally important) and to ensure patients receive psychological support that is relevant to their physical health needs and rheumatological diagnosis,” Dr. Matcham added.
“If this is not possible, simply asking patients about their mental health as part of routine follow-up and creating standardized mental-health care pathways that make use of primary-care or community mental-health services can go a long way to improve the management of mental health needs,” she said.
Reference
- Matcham F, Galloway J, Hotopf M, et al. The impact of targeted Rheumatoid Arthritis pharmacological treatment on mental health: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. Arthritis & Rheumatology. 2018 Jun 6. [Epub ahead of print]
