Addressing Barriers to Optimal Care in Schizophrenia with Pharmacotherapy

Schizophrenia is a mental health disorder characterized by:

• ~ Disrupted neurochemical pathways
• ~ Thought processes, emotions
• ~ social interactions.

While schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disease both across and within patients, it is nonetheless a debilitating disorder for many individuals. An estimated 0.25% to 0.75% of the population suffer from schizophrenia, resulting in about 20.9 million cases and 13.4 million years of life lived with disability worldwide.

The goals of treatment for schizophrenia should include not only reducing the number of acute psychotic episodes and reducing the risk for future relapse but also improving quality of life and function beyond symptom relief, such as outcomes related to school, work, and relationships.

To achieve these goals, a combination of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions are recommended.

Although current guidelines are explicit about the importance of engaging patients in goal setting and valuing patient preferences, psychiatrists not uncommonly undervalue the importance of improving daily living and capacity for work, suggesting an important practice gap.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the session the participant will be able to:

• ~ Describe challenges to the successful management of schizophrenia relating to treatment adherence and develop corresponding solutions.
• ~ Prioritize agents from both first- and second-generation antipsychotics, given a patient case and using patient-centered decision-making.
• ~ Describe the ways in which understanding of schizophrenia neuropathology has changed and pair that knowledge with treatment mechanisms.
• ~ List present and emerging treatment options for schizophrenia, including those targeted at negative symptoms and apply them to patient cases using evidence-based medicine.

Accreditations:

• ~ Credit Designation: ScientiaCME designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

• ~ ABIM MOC Recognition Statement: Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 1.0 MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.

• ~ Physicians: For maintenance of certification (MOC) credit, you must enter your board certification ID # and birth date correctly. It is the learner's responsibility to provide this information completely and accurately at the completion of the activity. Without providing it, the learner will NOT receive MOC credit for this activity. Please note: Not all activities on this site provide MOC credit. If this activity does not specify that it provides MOC credit in this section, then it does NOT provide MOC credit. Also, MOC credit is award only for the board(s) specified.

• ~ Pharmacists: ScientiaCME is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as a provider of continuing pharmaceutical education. This program is approved for 1.0 hours (0.1 CEUs) of continuing education. Proof of participation will be posted to your NABP CPE profile within 4 to 6 weeks to participants who have successfully completed the post-test. Participants must participate in the entire presentation and complete the course evaluation to receive continuing pharmacy education credit. ACPE # 0574-0000-20-051-H01-P. CPE credit effective 11/27/20 and expires 11/27/22. This is a Application (A)-type activity.

• ~ Pharmacists: You must enter your NABP # and birth date correctly so that proof of participation can be posted to your NABP CPE profile. It is the learner's responsibility to provide this information completely and accurately at the completion of the activity. Without providing it, the learner will NOT receive CPE credit for this activity.

• ~ Nurse Practitioners (NPs): The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME. ScientiaCME will provide NPs who successfully complete each activity with a certificate of participation indicating that the activity was designated for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.

• ~ Physician Assistants: The American Academy of Physician Assistants accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME.

Instructions:

1. Read the learning objectives above
2. Take the Pre-Test (optional). Completion of the pre-test will help us evaluate the knowedge gained by participating in this CME activity.
3. View the online activity. You may view this is in more than one session, and may pause or repeat any portion of the presentation if you need to.
4. Take the post-test
5. Complete the activity evaluation and CME registration. A CE certificate will be emailed to you immediately.