Website intended for a NZ health professional readership
A range of approaches is needed to manage mental health presentations. In this article, specialist GP Sophie Jadwiga Ball describes two tools that can be employed within a GP consultation and provides the evidence-based theory behind their use. She also presents numerous examples to demonstrate how you can apply these tools in practice
1. Caspi A, Houts RM, Ambler A, et al. Longitudinal assessment of mental health disorders and comorbidities across 4 decades among participants in the Dunedin Birth Cohort Study. JAMA Netw Open 2020;3(4):e203221.
2. Healthwatch Lambeth. GP Experiences: People’s experiences of talking to their GP about their mental health. February 2017.
3. Fournier JC, DeRubeis RJ, Hollon SD, et al. Antidepressant drug effects and depression severity: A patient-level meta-analysis. JAMA 2010;303(1):47–53.
Pharmacist prescribers Linda Bryant and Leanne Te Karu discuss positive polypharmacy for heart failure. Current evidence shows the intensive implementation of four medications offers the greatest benefit to most patients with heart failure, with significant reductions in cardiovascular mortality, heart failure hospitalisations and all-cause mortality
