Developing iSWITCHED (Implementing SWITCHing EDucational Intervention): A Co-Designed Intervention to Support Safer Antipsychotic Switching in Severe Mental Illness

Aims: Individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) face two–three times higher-risk of early death; over 60% are deaths linked to preventable physical health issues. Commonly prescribed antipsychotics (APs) like olanzapine, quetiapine, and risperidone effectively manage mental health (MH) symptoms...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Prachi Kaistha, Megan Beddow, Tom Kingstone, Ian Maidment, Saeed Farooq
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2025-06-01
Series:BJPsych Open
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472425101579/type/journal_article
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Summary:Aims: Individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) face two–three times higher-risk of early death; over 60% are deaths linked to preventable physical health issues. Commonly prescribed antipsychotics (APs) like olanzapine, quetiapine, and risperidone effectively manage mental health (MH) symptoms but carry serious cardiometabolic risks. Although lower-risk APs have been available for nearly a decade, most patients remain on higher-risk APs as switching to improve cardio-metabolic side-effects is rarely implemented due to clinician uncertainty and relapse concerns. We aimed to co-design an educational intervention to support clinicians in evidence-based AP switching, incorporating input from clinicians, patients and caregivers.
ISSN:2056-4724