The study investigated a new concept for treating psychiatric patients in their familiar environment (at home) in comparison with the usual inpatient treatment. This is the inpatient-equivalent treatment form St?B (cf. §115d SGB V) by special teams with fixed treatment appointments.

The study was funded by the Innovation Committee of the Federal Joint Committee and conducted by a consortium of five research institutions. The Competence Center for Clinical Trials Bremen (KKSB) at the University of Bremen was one of these consortium partners.

400 patients were recruited from 10 centers in German hospitals, treated and followed up for one year. The primary objective was to compare the readmission rate depending on the treatment modality between St?B and inpatient treatment. Numerous other parameters were also analysed.

The KKSB was responsible for the recruitment principle, data management, the planning as well as  the implementation of the statistical analysis and was involved in other topics.

The study was successful. It has been shown that this home-based treatment is superior to inpatient therapy in key aspects. For example, the St?B patients experienced less frequent and later relapses with readmission, a lower number of inpatient days, better shared decision making and higher satisfaction.