Psychosis is a serious mental illness that affects up to 3% of the population. The DELTA Project in Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) Service was started in 2005 and was Ireland’s first specialist service for psychosis. In 2006 it expanded its services to cover two other mental health services (area of 450,000 people) and was renamed DETECT. Over the last 10 years, another service in Cork has been established and in 2019 a national Model of Care for EIP was launched and three further services were established around the country. DETECT’s twentieth anniversary coincides with an important time for Irish EIP services. The challenges of the next decade include providing specialist psychosis care to the whole population, developing services for children and adolescents and making sure that we are providing the most up to date and effective interventions.
This conference aims to inform Irish EIP care delivery by gathering the community of clinicians, researchers, policy makers and service users. A mixture of local and international contributors, early and established career professionals and individuals with lived experience and their family members will make sure everyone’s view is heard. We will focus on the practical steps that allow psychosis research to be translated into clinical practice and build links between local and international EIP services. The conference will provide a space for discussion and an opportunity for the exchange of ideas amongst all stakeholders.