The Reinvention of Mental Health Crisis Services: A Conversation

Synopsis

Emergency psychiatry, as a building type or environmental setting existed as a quiet backwater (or afterthought) within Hospital-based Emergency Departments in North America (akin to A&E services in the UK) until about 12 years ago when service users and clinicians began to explore alternative models of care that improved the efficiency of Emergency Departments by creating alternative care settings for persons experiencing a mental health emergency. With the encouragement of federal and state governments, a diversity new care models have been co-produced, constructed, and brought into operation in over 100 new settings. These new care models and their associated settings are targeted to improve care, reduce time in crisis care, reduce in-patient admissions, while simultaneously increasing the efficiencies of traditional A&E/ED settings. Using illustrations of newer facilities, Mr. Pitts will moderate a conversation with two pioneering clinicians from the United States an Scotland that will explore the underlying drivers for this movement, illustrate some of the advantages and challenges inherent in theses settings and discuss the implications for service users in terms of targeted and effective care.