North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN) is seeking general practices in its region to take part in a new mental health research trial, Link-me.
Link-me is implemented in partnership with the University of Melbourne and tests a new approach to delivering care for patients with complex mental health needs in general practice.
A patient’s eligibility for Link-me is determined through their completion of a Decision Support Tool on an iPad in the GP waiting room. The Tool predicts the severity of the patient’s mental health problems in 3 months and allocates the patient randomly to the intervention or usual care group. Patients in the intervention group benefit from a treatment recommendation that is matched to the severity of their mental health need.
