Literature Review

Over the course of many months, my Dual Diagnosis CEL team developed a literature review for Dr. McLean and the MedSci 4300 course to explain issues and inadequacies in the current system of care for Dual Diagnosis patients.

We completed a comprehensive review of the existing literature. Although the concept of Dual Diagnoses (specifically for concurrent developmental disabilities and mental illnesses) is not heavily researched, we organized the literature into 5 main categories: inpatient care, staffing, patient transition, outpatient care, and novel models being developed. 

We found that Dual Diagnosis patients do not receive optimal care in any of the sectors with staffing being both scarce and inadequately trained. As a result, dual diagnosis patients are passed around from sector to sector in an exasperating wave of cyclicity. We hope that with more innovative techniques and models that were noted in the review, this cyclical nature can be broken.

Dual Diagnosis Literature Review 2018.pdf