Health Targets

Improving Mental Health Services

What is the target?

All long-term clients have up to date relapse prevention plans.

What is a relapse prevention plan?

Relapse prevention (or resiliency) plans identify early relapse warning signs of services users. The plan identifies what the service user can do for themselves and what the service will do to support the service user. Ideally, each plan will be developed with involvement of clinicians, service users and their significant others. The plan represents an agreement and ownership between parties. Each plan will have varying degrees of complexity depending on the individual. Each service user will know of (and ideally have a copy of) their plan.

How many long term clients have up to date prevention plans?

Latest figures show that, over all the DHBs who are able to report, 75% of long term clients (in adult mental health services) currently have up to date relapse prevention plans. These vary between DHBs. About 25% of the DHBs have not reported their figures on this target.

How is the information gathered?

DHBs were required to report the number of long-term clients (defined as being under active management in the service for two years) and their work status in 2005/06. Reports will be required in respect to adult, child and adolescent and AOD patients/clients. Thirteen DHBs met this reporting requirement (in respect to adult mental health patients).

Reporting the percentage of long-term clients with relapse prevention plans is part of the 2006/07 DHB accountability requirements.

One method of obtaining this information by using the "Knowing the People Planning" (KPP) principles.

KPP is a tool for clinicians and managers to understand who their long term clients are, what their needs are and how well they are being met.

What improvements need to be made?

A continued focus is required for understanding who the long term client group are, which includes clinicians and service users completing relapse prevention plans and DHBs reporting the required information.

Relapse prevention plans are a requirement of the National Mental Sector Standards (16.4).

Who is the Ministry of Health champion of this target?

Dr David Chaplow, Director of Mental Health.

Progress on the Target to date - Quarter Three update, July 2008

View a summary on progress towards this Target for Quarters One and Two, from the Ministry of Health Target champion, and more detailed information (eg, graphs and their source data) on the Improving Mental Health Services Quarterly Reports page.

Specific information on each DHB's progress towards their local targets is provided on their individual pages. You can access them on the Targets by DHB page.

Related information

In this section:
Targets by DHB

In other sections in this website:
Mental Health section

On other websites:
Knowing the People Planning website

Page last updated: 18 July 2008