Perinatal psychiatric care at home
An integrated home treatment model is being developed to support affected women in their home environment and enable continuous, interprofessional care.
Factsheet
- Schools involved School of Health Professions
- Institute(s) Nursing
- Research unit(s) Innovation in the Field of Mental Health and Psychiatric Care
- Duration (planned) 01.04.2026 - 30.06.2028
- Head of project Dr. Anna Hegedüs
-
Project staff
Nora Christa Ambord
Melina Hasler - Keywords Mental health, Psychiatric care, Obstetrics, Integrated care, care@home, home treatment
Situation
Perinatal mental illness occurs during pregnancy or in the first year after birth and affects around 13,000 women in Switzerland every year. The consequences are serious: untreated illness has a lasting impact on the parent-child bond; in severe cases, inpatient psychiatric treatment is required, which usually means separation of mother and child. Suicide is also the most common cause of death among women in the first year after giving birth. Timely intervention is crucial to minimize negative consequences. Guidelines recommend avoiding mother-child separation when treatment is necessary and advocate targeted measures to strengthen the mother-child bond. The limited availability of psychiatric clinics with mother-child services creates barriers to access, such as long waiting times and a lack of childcare. Health professionals in psychiatry and obstetrics often work without structured exchange. This lack of integration makes it difficult to provide needs-based, continuous, and interprofessional treatment. Specialized outpatient services are rare, and care is highly fragmented. The ETAP-PP project aims to develop, implement, and test the feasibility of an interprofessional, integrated care@home model that supports women with acute mental illness in the perinatal phase in their home environment.
Course of action
The study comprises three interrelated sub-studies and combines qualitative and participatory research methods with an iterative approach. 1. Analysis of evidence and needs: Needs and experiences are collected in qualitative interviews with affected women, caregivers, and health professionals. These results form the conceptual basis for model development and are processed as part of student work. 2. Participatory model development: Using design thinking methods, key model components, role allocations, and care pathways are developed in several co-design workshops together with affected women, relatives, and professionals. At the same time, a digital application is being developed as an integral part of the model. In addition, a program theory is being developed that describes the mechanisms of action and outcomes. 3. Implementation and feasibility study: The model will be implemented on a small scale in the Bern region. An accompanying feasibility study will use interviews and focus groups to gather information on experiences, acceptance, and feasibility from the perspective of health professionals, affected women, and caregivers. In addition, usage data will be documented and evaluated.
Looking ahead
The project will result in a needs-based, implementable home treatment model, including a digital application, that is accepted by the stakeholders. It promotes interprofessional collaboration between obstetric and psychiatric disciplines, with nurses and midwives—including those in advanced practice roles—playing a key role. In the long term, the model should be transferable to other regions and serve as the basis for a controlled evaluation.
