Evaluating the effectiveness of sociotherapy following psychiatric hospitalization: a target trial emulation protocol using German statutory health insurance data.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The German health care system maintains a strict division between inpatient and outpatient care, posing challenges for the continuity of care. Discharge management facilitates the transition from inpatient to outpatient settings. For psychiatric patients, sociotherapy is one transitional intervention that can be prescribed to inpatients at discharge and then provided in the outpatient setting. As a form of case management, it aims to motivate patients, coordinate care among providers, and ultimately reduce psychiatric hospital readmissions. However, the effectiveness of sociotherapy remains unclear due to a lack of randomized trials. This protocol describes an observational study investigating the causal impact of sociotherapy on psychiatric readmission rates.

Methods

SUBMITTER: Kohl R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12315314 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature