Standardised description of health and social care: A systematic review of use of the ESMS/DESDE (European Service Mapping Schedule/Description and Evaluation of Services and DirectoriEs)

Cristina Romero-López-Alberca; Mencía R Gutiérrez-Colosía; José A Salinas-Pérez; Nerea Almeda; Maryanne Furst; Sonia Johnson; Luis Salvador-Carulla

doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2019.07.003

Standardised description of health and social care: A systematic review of use of the ESMS/DESDE (European Service Mapping Schedule/Description and Evaluation of Services and DirectoriEs)

Eur Psychiatry. 2019 Sep:61:97-110. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2019.07.003. Epub 2019 Aug 17.

Authors

Cristina Romero-López-Alberca¹, Mencía R Gutiérrez-Colosía², José A Salinas-Pérez³, Nerea Almeda⁴, Maryanne Furst⁵, Sonia Johnson⁶, Luis Salvador-Carulla⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Cádiz, Asociación Científica Psicost, Spain.
² Department of Psychology, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Seville, Asociación Científica Psicost, Spain. Electronic address: menciaruiz@uloyola.es.
³ Department of Quantitative Methods, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Seville, Asociación Científica Psicost, Spain.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Seville, Spain.
⁵ Centre for Mental Health Research, Research School of Population Health, ANU College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
⁶ Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK.
⁷ Centre for Mental Health Research, Research School of Population Health, ANU College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra. Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of Sydney, Australia.

PMID: 31426008
DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2019.07.003

Abstract

Background: Evidence-informed planning and interpretation of research results both require standardised description of local care delivery context. Such context analysis descriptions should be comparable across regions and countries to allow benchmarking and organizational learning, and for research findings to be interpreted in context. The European Service Mapping Schedule (ESMS) is a classification of adult mental health services that was later adapted for the assessment of health and social systems research (Description and Evaluation of Services and DirectoriEs - DESDE). The aim of the study was to review the diffusion and use of the ESMS/DESDE system in health and social care and its impact in health policy and decision-making.

Method: We conducted a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (1997-2018).

Results: Out of 155 papers mentioning ESMS/DESDE, 71 have used it for service research and planning. The classification has been translated into eight languages and has been used by seven international research networks. Since 2000, it has originated 11 instruments for health system research with extensive analysis of their metric properties. The ESMS/DESDE coding system has been used in 585 catchment areas in 34 countries for description of services delivery at local, regional and national levels.

Conclusions: The ESMS/DESDE system provides a common terminology, a classification of care services, and a set of tools allowing a variety of aims to be addressed in healthcare and health systems research. It facilitates comparisons across and within countries for evidence-informed planning.

Keywords: Context analysis; Description and evaluation of services and directories, systematic review; European Service Mapping Schedule; Health services; Mental health care.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Adult
Health Care Surveys
Health Services Needs and Demand / standards
Health Services Needs and Demand / statistics & numerical data*
Humans
Mental Disorders / therapy*
Mental Health Services / standards
Mental Health Services / statistics & numerical data*
Quality Assurance, Health Care