The aim of the new national Knowledge Centre Body & Mind Initiative is to develop and disseminate knowledge about the connection between physical and mental symptoms. The Centre was recently set up on the initiative of the Trimbos Institute and Breburg mental health services.
The input of GGz Breburg will emanate from KeKLOCO, the advanced clinic where patients with combined somatic and mental problems are treated. The contribution of Trimbos will be based on its mission ‘to improve mental health through sharing knowledge’.
The Knowledge Centre Body & Mind Initiative will focus on conducting innovative research on the onset, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of combined physical and mental health problems. According to Professor Van der Feltz-Cornelis, PhD, of both Trimbos and GGZ Breburg, body and mind are still too often treated separately and as two separate conditions, whereas in fact the connection and interaction between both is becoming ever clearer. Furthermore, she says, it is imperative that care for these patients should be better integrated, from the perspective of both physical and mental health care.
The combination of physical and mental health problems occurs frequently, and leads to prolonged ill-health as well as high societal costs. People with these comorbid symptoms experience a double illness burden and have extra difficulty in functioning in society. Some of these people may have unexplained physical symptoms such as those described in a forthcoming new guideline for somatically insufficiently explained physical symptoms and somatoform disorders. Others may have a combination of physical illness and mental disorder, such as diabetes and depression.
Although there is a growing body of research which shows effective treatment possibilities for these problems, the practical application of this knowledge leaves much to be desired. The new Knowledge Centre aims to improve on this.
More information: Christina van der Feltz-Cornelis
