The Personal Assessment and Crisis Evaluation (PACE) Clinic: The First Ultra High Risk for Psychosis Clinic 21 Years On.
Poster C129, Saturday, October 22, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Le Baron
John Stratford1, Fritha Melville1, Patrick McGorry2, Clare Kentmann1, Emma Cartwright1, Alison Yung3, Andrea Polari1, Barnaby Nelson1,2; 1Orygen Youth Health, Melbourne Health, 2Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 3University of Manchester
Early intervention for psychosis focused initially on the first episode. The Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Clinic (EPPIC) was introduced as a clinical service to treat young people in this stage of illness. In 1993 the Personal Assessment and Crisis Evaluation (PACE) Clinic was established in an attempt to identify help-seeking young people potentially in the prodromal phase and considered to have an ‘at risk mental state’. The ultra high risk (UHR) for psychosis criteria were developed and operationalised this “at risk mental state”. These criteria were based on research and have undergone some minor changes over the years; they are based on attenuated (sub-threshold) positive psychotic symptoms, brief self-resolving psychotic symptoms (BLIPS), and trait vulnerability to psychosis due to family history of psychosis or schizotypal personality disorder. Since its inception PACE has conducted a broad suite of research studies, including four intervention studies, and provided a clinical service for more than 100 UHR young people per year. The twin aims of the clinic are to research aetiological factors driving the onset of psychosis and develop effective interventions for delaying or preventing the onset of psychosis. More than fifteen ultra high risk/prodrome services have been established worldwide based on the PACE model and research in this field has become a premiere focus of psychosis research internationally. The presentation will overview the clinical and research work of the PACE clinic over its 20+ years and highlight avenues for future evolution, in line with the conference theme of “looking back, moving forward”.
Topic Area: Ultra High Risk / Prodromal Research