The perception of needs for care in staff and patients in community-based mental health services. The South-Verona Outcome Project 3

Objective: The present study aims to assess needs for care rated by patients and staff and their agreement on needs assessment in a community-based mental health service by using the Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN). Method: The Italian version of the CAN was used in a sample of 247 patient-staff pairs. Results: Patients and staff showed poor agreement on both the presence of a need and on whether need had been met or not. Higher disability predicted a higher number of patient-rated needs, while higher disability, higher number of service contacts and patient unemployment predicted a higher number of staff-rated needs. Lower global functioning predicted higher disagreement in patients and staff ratings of needs. Conclusion: Patients and staff show different perceptions of needs for care and therefore multiple perspectives should be taken into account for planning and providing effective needs-led mental health care.