Health Technology Assessment in Primary Care and Mental Health (PRISMA)
Research Program
Where we are
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu
Professional network profiles
Related websites
We conduct research into the design and evaluation of new technologies and health services, with a special focus on primary and community care and mental health. As a research group, we focus on health economics including exploring preventive strategies and pharmacological/non-pharmacological treatments for mental health disorders and other chronic diseases that are either extremely prevalent or have a major social impact, such as stroke and cardiovascular disease.
We also evaluate the health impact of population interventions, policies or access to resources, and the use of health and social services. The results of these studies can be used in health service planning, economic management and to establish health policies.
We were part of the Cooperative Research Network for Research on Health Outcomes and Health Services (IRYSS, G03/202) between 2003 and 2005, and have been part of the Research in Preventive Activities and Health Promotion network (redIAPP, RD12 / 0005/008) since 2007. Some members of our group joined the Centre for Biomedical Research Network for Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP) (CB16 / 02/00322) in 2017. Our group has been recognised as a consolidated research group by AGAUR (SGR 1515).
Project
"NHoA - Never Home Alone" Principal Investigator: Dr. Antoni Serrano Blanco. 2021-2024. The PLEC2021-007868 project has been funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union Next Generation EU/PRTR; within the call "R+D+i projects in «strategic lines» 2021"
Research lines
- Research in Primary and Community Care (Principal investigator: Maria Rubio): we carry out and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of health interventions in primary and community care involving professionals and patients through qualitative and quantitative studies (epidemiological, Real World Data and clinical trials).
- Evaluation of health services (Principal investigator: Antoni Serrano): we explore the availability and efficiency of health services, with special emphasis on the economic assessment of diseases, by carrying out cost/burden of disease studies and interventions, through cost-effectiveness studies based on clinical trials and economic models.
Scientific objectives
- To develop and evaluate interventions to improve initiation of pharmacological treatments in primary care.
- To study the impact of social events on the behaviour of patients and professionals and their health impact through natural experiments.
- To evaluate the efficiency (effectiveness and cost-effectiveness) of preventive and therapeutic interventions in primary care and other settings.
- To assess the stigma associated with mental health and the effectiveness of population-based interventions aimed at curbing this.
Area/Field of expertise
The group includes psychiatrists, GPs, pharmacists, psychologists and economists who provide a global perspective on the studies being carried out. We have methodological experts with extensive experience in health economics and quantitative and qualitative research.
Our primary objective is to guide health decision-making by researching the efficiency of health technologies in primary care, with a special focus on health prevention and promotion, mental health therapies and medication adherence. We also seek to detect needs and generate interventions based on expertise taking into account the context in which they are to be implemented. We, therefore, also conduct studies on the prevalence of mental illness, the coordination between different levels of care, the cost and burden of the disease and the classification and mapping of services.
To answer these highly complex questions, we employ mixed research methods and have expertise in qualitative research, clinical trials, Real World Data, cost-effectiveness studies based on clinical trials and mathematical models as well as other methodologies. Finally, the group includes professionals with a strong statistical background who apply cutting-edge statistical techniques to the analysis of our study results.

Group members
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Cristina Carbonell Duacastella
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Técnico
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Maria Del Carmen Gallardo González
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Last Publications
- Bernard RM, Toppo C, Raggi A, de Mul M, de Miquel C, Pugliese MT, van der Feltz-Cornelis CM, Ortiz-Tallo A, Salvador-Carulla L, Lukersmith S, Hakkaart-van Roijen L, Merecz-Kot D, Staszewska K and Sabariego C Strategies for Implementing Occupational eMental Health Interventions: Scoping Review. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH . 24(6): .
- Moreno-Küstner B, Fábrega-Ruz J, Gonzalez-Caballero JL, Reyes S, Ochoa S, Romero-Lopez-Alberca C, Cid J, Vila-Badia R, Frigola-Capell E and Salvador-Carulla L Patient-reported impact of symptoms in schizophrenia scale (PRISS): Development and validation ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA . 145(6): 640-655.
- Joan Domènech Abella, SANDRA DÍAZ COFINÉ, Rubio-Valera M and Aznar-Lou I Evaluación pre-post de un programa intergeneracional para mejorar el bienestar en personas mayores y los estereotipos edadistas en alumnos de primaria y secundaria: proyecto CRENCO. Revista Española De Geriatría Y Gerontología . 57(3): 161-167.
Projects
- Project name:
- Red de Investigación en Cronicidad, Atención Primaria y Promoción de la Salud (RICAPPS)
- Leader
- Maria Montserrat Gil Girbau
- Funding entities:
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
- Code
- RD21/0016/0018
- Starting - finishing date:
- 2022 - 2024
- Project name:
- Características genoespecíficas de la comorbilidad somática y neurológica en pacientes adultos con discapacidad intelectual y trastornos psiquiátricos asociados.
- Leader
- Carlos Peña Salazar
- Funding entities:
- Parc Sanitari de Sant Joan de Déu -Serveis de Salut Mental
- Code
- 202103
- Starting - finishing date:
- 2022 - 2023
- Project name:
- Movilidad de personal investigador contratado en el marco de la AES (M-AES)
- Leader
- Cristina Carbonell Duacastella
- Funding entities:
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
- Code
- MV21/00055
- Starting - finishing date:
- 2022 - 2022
Theses
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Problemas de Adherencia al Inicio de Tratamientos para la Enfermedad Cardiovascular y Diabetes
- Author
- Vilaplana Carnerero, Carles
- Institution
- UNIVERSIDAD DE BARCELONA
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El problema de la no iniciación del tratamiento farmacológico: evaluación con métodos cualitativos
- Author
- Gil Girbau, Maria Montserrat
- Institution
- UNIVERSIDAD DE BARCELONA
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Effectiveness and feasibility of watchful waiting for the management of major depression in primary care
- Author
- Iglesias Gonzalez, Maria
- Institution
- UNIVERSIDAD DE BARCELONA
News
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More than 6% of Europeans suffer from depression
Dr. Antoni Serrano (Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu) participates in a study led by King's College London and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute where the prevalence of depression among the population of more than 27 European countries has been studied.
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Research identifies six groups in the population more susceptible to the impact of the pandemic
Dr. Belén Arranz, Dr. Judith Usall i Rodié and Dr. Antoni Serrano from the Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu participate in the project COM-COVID, leds by Dr. Cristina Vilaplana from the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute.
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Dr Maria Rubio awarded a scientific excellence grant from the European Research Council (ERC)
This financial award will fund an intervention in several primary care centres in Catalonia and is designed to encourage people with diabetes and cardiovascular disease to begin and comply with the pharmacological treatments as prescribed by their physician.