An alternative to admission

Mental Health Nursing,  Mar 1999  by Brimblecombe, N,  O'Sullivan, G H

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Diagnosis, assessment and admissions from a community treatment team

Brimblecombe N, O'Sullivan GH. Psychiatric Bulletin 1999; 23, 2: 72-74

A community treatment team was able to prevent hospital admission for most people referred by offering rapid assessment and intensive home treatment, a study by researchers in Hertfordshire has found.

The Dacorum Community Treatment Team (CTT) accepts referrals for acute mental illness potentially severe enough to warrant admission. Treatment involves home visits, support for carers, help with medication, and crisis counselling.

During the study 318 people were assessed and GI.9 per cent 'taken on' by the CTT. Diagnosis of mood disorder was linked to a significantly increased likelihood of being taken on and while diagnosis of schizophrenia or neurotic disorder also showed an increased likelihood, the association was not significant.

Overall diagnosis was found to have an association with likelihood of admission. Those with mood disorders were less likely to be admitted at assessment and those with personality disorders more likely to be admitted.

The results point to a significant relationship between diagnosis and outcome, with marked variation between diagnostic categories, and suggest home treatment teams can prevent admission for most people from all diagnostic groups but less successfully with people with personality disorder.

The authors conclude that more research is needed to investigate which behaviours and symptoms identified at assessment predict future outcomes in service provision.

Copyright Community Psychiatric Nurses Association Mar 1999
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