Abstract Psychotropic medicines are essential in managing mental illness but are associated with complex challenges, including off-label use, polypharmacy, drug interactions, adverse effects, and diverse safety profiles. Effective decision-making requires access to reliable, evidence-based, and context-specific medicines information. Medicines Information (MI) services, particularly those led by pharmacists, provide tailored, evidence-informed advice that supports safe prescribing and optimises patient outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the Psychotropic Drug Advisory Service (PDAS) at Alfred Health, a statewide pharmacist-led clinical advisory service. The evaluation sought to (a) determine the impact of advice on patient care, clinical outcomes, and medication safety; (b) assess the usefulness of advice and its uptake by enquirers; and (c) explore user experiences and satisfaction to inform future service development. A mixed-methods service evaluation was conducted. Quantitative data were collected through a retrospective audit of all enquiries recorded over a 12-month period (January–December 2024). Qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews conducted between March and August 2025 with a total of 17 clinicians, consumers, and carers who had accessed PDAS during the evaluation period. Interviews explored perceptions of service utility, impact on clinical decision-making, and areas for improvement, and were thematically analysed. PDAS responded to 266 enquiries over the 12-month evaluation period, with enquiries originating from a broad range of clinicians, consumers, and carers across primary, secondary, and community care. Enquiries frequently involved complex psychotropic decision-making; most commonly relating to administration and dosage, choice of medication, adverse effects, drug–drug interactions, and antipsychotic or antidepressant use. Most enquiries were addressed promptly, with the majority receiving an initial response within one hour. Qualitative analysis identified four key themes: enhancing confidence in clinical decision-making , improving access to specialist psychotropic advice , facilitating collaborative problem solving , and delivering credible , evidence-based guidance; highlighting PDAS’s role as a trusted, accessible, and specialist support service within complex mental health settings. These findings support the utility of a statewide, pharmacist-led psychotropic medicines information service as an important component of contemporary mental health systems, particularly in settings characterised by clinical complexity and/or limited access to specialist expertise.

Describe and compare patients', next-of-kin's and healthcare professionals' perceptions of the quality of care in community mental healthcare services. Patients value family involvement in mental healthcare, but next-of-kin feel unprepared and lack the necessary skills to be supportive. Since healthcare professionals predominantly focus on patients, they may fail to understand the complex needs of families. Thus, the quality of community mental healthcare may vary across patients, next-of-kin, and healthcare professionals.Cross-sectional study with patients, next-of-kin and healthcare professionals in community mental healthcare services in Norway. 140 participants, of whom 43 are patients, 43 next-of-kin, and 56 healthcare professionals. Participants filled in the translated version of the Quality in Psychiatric Care - Community Out-Patient (QPC-COP), Community Out-Patient Next of Kin (QPC-COPNK), and Quality in Psychiatric Care- Community Outpatient Staff (QPC-COPS).Next-of-kin and healthcare professionals scored the overall quality of community mental healthcare lower than patients. All three perspectives reported the Encounter to be of high quality. Patients rated Discharge, next-of-kin rated Next-of-kin, and healthcare professionals rated Environmentas havingthelowest quality of care.Patients were generally more positive than the next-of-kin and healthcare professionals about the quality of community mental healthcare. Patients, next-of-kin, and healthcare professionals rated interpersonal relationship between patients and healthcare professionals as having the highest quality of care. However, lowest quality scores were given by next-of-kin regarding being respected and invited to take part, and by healthcare professionals regarding the patients' trust in the healthcare professionals, and feeling secure in their home environment. This is important knowledge for health authorities, leaders, and mental healthcare clinicians in developing and providing quality care.

Parents of children on the autism spectrum face challenging treatment-related decisions, often with limited knowledge about available options. Shared Decision Making (SDM), a process where clinicians, patients, and families collaborate to make decisions based on evidence and preferences, can assist parents in navigating these choices. However, little is known about the use of SDM interventions for autism-related parental decisions. A systematic and scoping review was conducted across four databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and PsycInfo), and grey literature in two clinical trial registries. Study selection was conducted in two phases: title and abstract screening and full-text screening. From 7,610 records identified, two studies were included from Australia and Italy, describing multicomponent SDM interventions for parents of young children (< 18 years) on the autism spectrum. Both interventions demonstrated improvements in SDM-related outcomes, including parents' knowledge of autism treatments (such as speech pathology services and Early Intensive Behavior Intervention) and parents' involvement in treatment discussions. This review reveals a critical gap in SDM intervention research for autism parental decision-making. Despite the critical role parents play in autism treatment decisions, evidence-based SDM interventions remain scarce. This finding is significant given the well-established benefits of SDM in other healthcare populations and underscores the urgent need to develop and rigorously evaluate SDM interventions tailored to autism care contexts that support parents in making informed decisions about their children's care.Systematic review registration: A protocol was registered on PROSPERO.

Smart Cities, urban environments that integrate digital technologies to enhance sustainability, accessibility, and quality of life, are expanding globally. While these initiatives may support population health, their mental health impacts remain understudied and inconsistently reported. This thematic synthesis review integrates diverse forms of evidence to examine how Smart City features influence mental health outcomes and explores contextual factors and underlying mechanisms shaping these effects. Following PRISMA guidelines for qualitative evidence syntheses, a systematic search of Web of Science identified 36 peer-reviewed studies published between 2009 and 2024 that addressed Smart City components in relation to mental health outcomes in urban populations. Studies were thematically synthesized. Three key domains emerged: (1) Smart City features relate to mental health through access to green infrastructure, digital technologies, and transportation systems; (2) contextual vulnerabilities including digital exclusion, gender, age, and socioeconomic status moderate these relationships; and (3) mechanisms include environmental exposure, surveillance anxiety, sensory design, and cultural or relational dynamics embedded in Smart City systems. Findings suggest that Smart Cities can either promote or undermine mental health depending on how technologies are implemented, accessed, and experienced. To ensure Smart City development supports psychological wellbeing, future research should prioritize interdisciplinary collaboration, equity-informed planning, and integration of mental health expertise from the outset.