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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

SO387

Innovation in community psychiatry: Integrating peer and family support into the sector model in France

INNOVATING COMMUNITY PSYCHIATRY: INTEGRATING PEER AND FAMILY SUPPORT IN A SECTOR MODEL IN FRANCE

In a robust sector model integrating peer and family peer support workers, the number of beds fell from 33 to 21, while no mechanical restraint was used and the hospital's lowest seclusion rates were achieved.

The aim is to improve outpatient care within the French sector model, in which the same team provides both inpatient and outpatient services to a defined population, and to enable patients to become active agents in their treatment rather than passive recipients. The sector-based approach was built on patient empowerment and community participation: four peer support workers (peer health mediators) and two family peer support workers joined the team, the latter as part of France's first implementation of professional family peer support; two expert patients carried out mental health promotion activities for community professionals; and patient and family representatives were included in governance. The model includes a recovery unit, an Open Dialogue unit, no use of mechanical restraint, minimal use of seclusion, a therapeutic club, participation in Local Mental Health Councils, and enhanced outpatient care (two mobile teams and a community center offering walk-in access seven days a week). Brief, voluntary admissions are preferred, and the inpatient unit is kept open to respect freedom of movement. Findings: For a population of 120,000, the number of beds decreased from 33 to 21 between 2016 and 2025. During the same period, no mechanical restraint was reportedly used, and the hospital's lowest seclusion rates were achieved (31 in 2024 and 36 in 2025). In conclusion, the authors argue that a robust sector model involving peer professionals safeguards continuity of community-based psychiatric care and the therapeutic alliance. No control group, statistical comparison, or patient-level outcome data were provided.

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