Home Treatment for Acute Mental Disorders

Abstract

I want to begin by thanking three people who got me started in mobile crisis home treatment. First is Canadian psychiatrist Dr. Fred Fenton, whose book on his landmark Montreal Study first gave me the idea. Second is ex-Director of Psychiatric Services at Grand River Hospital, Kitchener, Ontario, psychiatrist Dr. David Barnes, who certainly created "an environment that tolerates risk taking." Third is social worker James Holland, the first manager of the Hazelglen Program, the first mobile crisis home treatment service in Canada, who ably translated our ideas into practice and provided strong leadership. This book would never have gotten past the first two chapters if Brunner-Routledge editors Toby Wahl and Bernadette Cappelle had not recognized the need for a book on an uncommon subject. They were able to take my original idea and mould it into a much more interesting form. Paula Hendsbee edited my first two chapters for the proposal. Much of what I know about treating patients in Mobil Crisis Home Treatment I have learned from the Hazelglen staff. For many evenings we met in a book group summarizing their experience, skills, and knowledge into a format suitable for a book. For that I thank

Professionals’ Experiences of the Relations between Personal History and Professional Role

“…The functions and characteristics of CRHT teams vary, but typically they emphasize being multidisciplinary, a low patient-staff ratio, rapid assessment, short-term care (4–6 weeks), and attention both to clinical and social needs [17]. …”

Psychiatric hospital-at-home programs could reduce emergency room boarding of patients experiencing a mental health crisis

“…I started Canada's first IHT program, the Hazelglen Program, in 1989 in Kitchener -Waterloo, Ontario. 4 The program was able to treat patients with severe acute schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression without admitting them. A multi disciplinary team makes frequent home visits, provides all the treatment that the hospital provides, helps figure out the social factors contributing to the crisis, and provides 24/7 clinical coverage.…”

Typology of Psychiatric Emergency Services in the United Kingdom: A narrative literature Review

“…The CRHT ideally provides 24 hours, 7 days a week, rapid emergency assessment within 1 hour, reviewing patients daily, with the intention of minimising disruption to the lives of individual over a period of 4-6 weeks [41,[46][47]. However, various models of CRHT currently exist, but it is expected that to be a multidisciplinary team offering home-based services.…”