277 Giorn Ital Psicopat 2011;17:277-282 Articolo originale • Original article Diffusione dell’intervento psicoeducativo familiare per il disturbo bipolare tipo I nei CSM italiani Implementing family psychoeducational intervention for bipolar I disorder in 11 Italian Mental Health Centres V. Del Vecchio 1 , M. Luciano 1 , C. Malangone 1 , D. Giacco 1 , C. De Rosa 1 , G. Sampogna 1 , L. Del Gaudio 1 , V. Vinci 1 , E. Di Iorio 2 , N. Feliziani 3 , R. Pescosolido 4 , G. Ciampini 5 , D. Lampis 6 , L. De Falco 7 , S. Biondi 8 , A. Riva 9 , E. Orlandi 10 , C. Baronessa 11 , M. Piselli 12 , A. Fiorillo 1 , M. Maj 1 1  Dipartimento di Psichiatria, Università di Napoli SUN; Centro di Salute Mentale di 2  Campobasso, 3  Colleferro, 4  Grosseto, 5  Lanciano, 6  Lanusei; 7  Azienda Ospedaliera Niguarda Ca’ Granda, Milano, Centro di Salute Mentale di 8  Montecatini, 9  Ravello, 10  Sassuolo, 11  Monza, 12  Foligno Summary Objectives This study, funded by the Italian Ministry of Health and coordi- nated by the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Naples SUN, aims to: 1) promote the use of a structured family psych- oeducational intervention in patients with bipolar I disorder and their families in Italian mental health centres; 2) assess its imple- mentation in routine care; c) evaluate its effects on psychopatho- logical status and social functioning of patients and their relatives. Methods This study included the following phases: 1) random selection of 11 Italian mental health centres; 2) development of informative materials and of assessment instruments; 3) training of 2 mental health workers per centre; 4) selection of 8 families of patients with bipolar I disorder for each centre and administration of family psychoeducational intervention. The difficulties and benefits en- countered by professionals in implementing the intervention were registered on the Family Intervention Schedule (FIS), a 46-item self-report instrument collecting information on: 1) number of families to whom the intervention was proposed; 2) clinical and organisational difficulties experienced by the staff in the provision of the intervention; 3) advantages reported by the staff. Results The intervention has been proposed to 79 patients and their relatives. Six of them did not accept it, further 9 families left the study after receiving the informative packages. Mental health workers reported several advantages in the conduction of the intervention, in particular, improvement of their professional skills and job satisfaction, which tend to increase over time. The most frequent difficulties in implementing the intervention are the integration of family work with other responsibilities and the allowance of time to perform the intervention. These difficulties are already high at the end of the training course and tend to be stable over time. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that family psychoeducational interventions are feasible in routine settings of Italian mental health centres for the treatment of bipolar I disorder. However, in order to facilitate the dissemination of this intervention on a large scale, organisational changes are needed. Key words Psychoeducational family interventions • Bipolar I disorder • Implemen- tation, Clinical practice Corrispondenza Valeria Del Vecchio, Dipartimento di Psichiatria, Università di Napoli SUN, Largo Madonna delle Grazie, 80138 Napoli, Italia • Tel. +39 081 5666531 • Fax +39 081 5666523 • E-mail: valeria.delvecchio@alice.it Riassunto Obiettivi Questo studio, condotto dal Dipartimento di Psichiatria dell’Uni- versità di Napoli SUN e finanziato dal Ministero della Salute, si è proposto di: 1) favorire la diffusione dell’intervento psico- educativo familiare secondo Falloon nei pazienti con disturbo bipolare tipo I nei centri di salute mentale italiani; 2) identifi- care e valutare i vantaggi e le difficoltà che ostacolano l’imple- mentazione dell’intervento dal punto di vista degli operatori e dei familiari; 3) stimarne l’effetto sullo stato psicopatologico e il funzionamento sociale dei pazienti e dei loro familiari. Materiali e metodi Lo studio ha previsto le seguenti fasi: 1) selezione randomiz- zata di 11 CSM; 2) sviluppo del materiale informativo e scelta degli strumenti di valutazione; 3) formazione di 2 operatori per centro all’intervento psicoeducativo familiare e agli stru- menti di valutazione; 4) uso dell’intervento in almeno 8 fa- miglie di utenti con disturbo bipolare tipo I in carico al CSM. Ciascun operatore ha compilato la Scheda sugli Interventi Fa- miliari (SIF), che indaga: a) il numero di famiglie che hanno iniziato, completato o interrotto l’intervento; b) i vantaggi e le difficoltà cliniche ed organizzative incontrate dagli ope- ratori nell’uso dell’intervento, valutate mediante una scala