REACHING OUT...
to those at risk

The Early Psychosis Program at the Waterford Hospital offers new hope to those suffering a psychotic episode. Drs. Kellie LeDrew and Kevin Hogan in the Discipline of Psychiatry are heading up the innovative program that provides quick and early intervention in psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar illness, associated with psychosis.

Patients tend to be younger people, particularly young men in their late teens and early 20s. The psychiatrists accept referrals from a number of sources, including self-referrals, and then go on to identify the psychosis, intervene, treat it and do follow-up work with patients. The main advantage of this program is that patients are seen quickly, often within 48 hours, and if a patient misses an appointment someone calls and checks up on them. The goal is to keep people out of hospital.

The program also includes a strong research element. "We are trying to develop a database of patients who develop first episode psychosis in the province," said Dr. Hogan. "We'll look at clinical outcomes, quality of life, health care economics, and service delivery."

The program is a partnership between the St. John's Health Care Corporation, which supports clinical service, Memorial University, which supports the research component of the program, and two pharmaceutical companies. An unrestricted educational grant of $120,000 per year for two years came from Eli Lilly Canada Inc. to help start the program. They also are supporting Dr. LeDrew with a Zyprexa fellowship, which helps her visit conferences and keep on the leading edge of research in this field. Support from Janssen-Ortho in the amount of $165,000 is allowing the program to set up a data base to evaluate client progress, evaluate the effectiveness of the treatments used in the program, and help with clinical trials and other interdisciplinary projects. Other research support has come from the Health Care Corporation through its Green Awards and the General Hospital Foundation.

"We are confident that this program will be integrated into the Health Care Corporation's whole mental health program," said Dr. Hogan. "We're already showing it's effective and we anticipate continued funding from our industry partners."