Crisis resolution and home treatment
Crisis Resolution / Home Treatment services are the gatekeepers to acute psychiatric care and fit within the wider system. At the core of the service are principles that aim to engender a normalising, individual and empowering approach to the resolution of mental health crises by adopting a psycho-educational, collaborative framework of interventions with the ultimate aim of recovery firmly in focus.
Objectives of crisis resolution home treatment :
- Act as a 'gatekeeper' to mental health services, rapidly assessing individuals with acute mental health problems and referring them to the most appropriate service.
- For individuals with acute, severe mental health problems for whom home treatment would be appropriate, provide immediate multi-disciplinary, community based treatment 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Ensure that individuals experiencing acute, severe mental health difficulties are treated in the least restrictive environment as close to home as clinically possible.
- Remain involved with the client until the crisis has resolved and the service user is linked into on-going care.
- If hospitalisation is necessary, be actively involved in discharge planning and provide intensive care at home to enable early discharge.
- Reduce service users' vulnerability to crisis and maximise their resilience.
The following principles of care are important:
- A 24 hour a day, 7 day a week service.
- Rapid response following referral. (DoH guidelines specify 1 hour)
- Intensive intervention and support in the early stages of the crisis. (Up to one visit per shift)
- Active involvement of the service user, family and carers.
- Assertive approach to engagement.
- Time-limited intervention that has sufficient flexibility to respond to differing service user needs.
- Learning from the crisis a psycho-educational approaches.
