Improving bipolar disorder case finding in primary care

The Behavioural Insights Team Canada (BIT)

“It takes an average of six years between symptom onset and receiving a diagnosis for bipolar disorder,” explains Brianne Kirkpatrick, Principal Advisor at The Behavioural Insights Team Canada. “We wanted to understand whether behavioural science could help family doctors and psychiatrists reduce this time lag and the negative impacts of this disease on people’s quality of life.”

Brianne’s team spoke with physicians across Canada to understand the barriers to identifying bipolar disorder in the primary care context. “Psychiatrists are specialists in diagnosing bipolar disorder, but family doctors are often the gateway to these more specialized mental health professionals,” says Brianne. “One of the things we looked at was simple ways to better connect psychiatrists and family doctors to make diagnosis quicker and more accurate.”

The team also looked at how administrative staff could play a role. “Family care practices differ so much, but there’s potential to improve bipolar disorder case finding across the board through the use of screening tools, lengthened appointment times, and shortened time span between follow-ups.”

From here, BIT is looking to partner with an institution to test whether these solutions could work in a real-world setting.