Table 4 Value and clinical implications of ERP reported by care coordinators (CC) and service users (SU)
Value | Implications for CC | Implications for SU |
|---|---|---|
Improved Understanding of Bipolar Disorder | • Learns about BD | • Learns about BD |
|  | • Learns about early warning signs, triggers and coping strategies | • Learns about early warning signs, triggers and coping strategies |
|  | • Acquires new skills for working with individuals with BD – increases competence and confidence of working with individuals with BD | • Increases acceptance of diagnosis and rationale for medication concordance |
|  | • Acquires new skills and strategies that generalise to working with individuals with other disorders | • Reduces feeling of isolation and fear of BD |
|  | • Gains further understanding of SU perspective and experience of BD | • Allows opportunity to reflect and make sense of lives |
|  | • Need to manage SUs distress and anxiety talking about past illness episodes | • Distress and anxiety talking about past illness episodes |
Developed ways of working with and managing Bipolar Disorder | • More contact with SU | • More contact with CC |
|  | • Opportunity to work with SU when well | • Improves recognition of triggers, early warning signs and coping strategies |
|  | • Added burden to workload and time | • Increases monitoring of mood and behaviour |
|  | • Increases complexity of role | • Empowerment and control over BD |
|  | • Sessions are more structured and focused | • Identifying and using coping strategies to prevent relapse |
|  | • Provides added sense of purpose | • Creation of concise, individualised action plan |
|  | • Documentation to support working | • Relapses can occur too quickly to use action plan |
|  | • Creation of concise, individualised action plan | • SU not motivated to prevent mania relapse |
|  | • Concerns that action plan not used in crisis by SU and wider team |  |
|  | • Identifying and reinforcing personalised coping strategies |  |
Enhanced Working Relationships | • Discovers new relevant information | • Shares new relevant information |
|  | • Collaborative working | • Collaborative working |
|  | • Is considered as more trustworthy | • Increases trust in CC |
|  | • Improves contact by SU when needed | • Improves contact with services when needed |
|  | • Increased dependency on CC rather than service as a whole | • Increased dependency on CC rather than service as a whole |
|  | • Changes relationship dynamic | • Changes relationship dynamic |