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Psychoeducation for bipolar disorders patients: the Porta Aberta programme

Author/s
Catarina Klut, Salome Xavier, Joao Graca, Goncalo Carreteiro, Joao C. Melo
Citation
Issue 3 Summer 2013
CEPiP.2013;1:232-236
Abstract

Psychoeducation is currently considered to be a fundamental intervention in the management of bipolar disorders. A psychoeducation group programme for patients with bipolar disorders, aimed at euthymic patients just prior to their discharge from the acute psychiatric inpatient unit, named Porta Aberta (Open Door), has been implemented since 2007 at the day-hospital of our psychiatric department (Amadora, Portugal). In this article, the authors provide a brief review of the relevant literature on this subject and also assess the effectiveness of the Porta Aberta programme in reducing the average number and duration of readmissions; they determine whether individual characteristics (gender, marital status and disorder subtype) may influence outcome.

Keywords: psychoeducation, bipolar disorders, treatment adherence, relapse prevention