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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1428689
This article is part of the Research Topic Open Dialogue Around the World – Implementation, Outcomes, Experiences, and Perspectives View all 22 articles

Evaluating Open Dialogue in Italian Mental Health Services: Evidence from a Multisite Prospective Cohort Study

Provisionally accepted
Raffaella Pocobello Raffaella Pocobello 1*Francesca Camilli Francesca Camilli 1Giuseppina Ridente Giuseppina Ridente 2Giuseppa Caloro Giuseppa Caloro 3Maria Giuseppe Balice Maria Giuseppe Balice 4Giuseppe Tibaldi Giuseppe Tibaldi 3Marcello Macario Marcello Macario 5Marco D'Alema Marco D'Alema 2Elisa Gulino Elisa Gulino 6Tarek el Sehity Tarek el Sehity 1,7*
  • 1 Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Department of Human and Social Sciences, Cultural Heritage, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy
  • 2 Associazione Pratiche Dialogiche, Rome, Italy
  • 3 Local Health Unit of Modena, Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
  • 4 Azienda Sanitaria Locale 'Città di Torino', Torino, Italy
  • 5 Dipartimento di salute mentale e Dipendenze ASL 2, Savona, Italy
  • 6 Azienda Sanitaria Provinciale di Catania, Catania, Sicily, Italy
  • 7 Sigmund Freud University Vienna, Vienna, Vienna, Austria

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: This longitudinal study aimed to quantitatively document and evaluate the implementation and outcomes of the Open Dialogue (OD) approach within Italian Mental Health Departments (MHDs), focusing on the ratings of OD-network meetings by patients and their families and assessing the clinical outcomes over a span of 12 months.Results: Over the course of the study, 58 patients participated in 517 OD-network meetings, demonstrating a high level of satisfaction with the care received, as evidenced by the Session Rating Scale (SRS) and Outcome Rating Scale (ORS). Clinically, significant improvements were observed in the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (CORE-OM), and the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS), indicating enhanced psychological and social functioning. The SRS scores showed that satisfaction with the meetings increased over time, while the ORS indicated that both patients and their social networks perceived gradual improvements throughout the therapy.Conclusions: The OD approach within Italian MHDs was successfully implemented and wellreceived by patients and their social networks, yielding significant clinical improvements. These findings suggest the feasibility and effectiveness of integrating the OD model into the Italian public mental health system, supporting its potential for broader application in diverse healthcare settings. The study highlights the importance of continuous engagement and evaluation to maintain high standards of practice and suggests that OD can be a valuable addition to existing mental health care practices, promoting recovery through inclusive, dialogue-based interventions.

    Keywords: open dialogue, Mental Health, Treatment outcomes, clinical outcomes, social networks, Patient Satisfaction

    Received: 06 May 2024; Accepted: 09 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Pocobello, Camilli, Ridente, Caloro, Balice, Tibaldi, Macario, D'Alema, Gulino and el Sehity. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Raffaella Pocobello, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Department of Human and Social Sciences, Cultural Heritage, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy
    Tarek el Sehity, Sigmund Freud University Vienna, Vienna, 1030, Vienna, Austria

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