Emergency Linkage to Outpatient Psychiatric Services

University of Rochester

Status and phase

Completed

Phase 1

Conditions

Emergency Services, Psychiatric

Treatments

Procedure: mobile crisis team

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

NIH

Identifiers

NCT00278811

09541

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to compare two different kinds of follow-up care and their effects on psychiatric service use and psychological well-being. This randomized, controlled trial of subjects discharged from the psychiatric emergency services to outpatient care receive traditional hospital-based outpatient clinic referrals (treatment as usual) or appointments for community-based follow-up by a mobile crisis team.

Full description

There are subgroups of patients who only seek care in emergency settings. An effective strategy to link that group to ambulatory care involves extending contact with psychiatric emergency services beyond the initial hospital-based visit. The "window of opportunity" to promote successful treatment linkage is brief. This is a study of a novel treatment format that seeks to expand the concept of the emergency contact, the study patients method of entering the mental health system of care, and by doing this, enhance retention in prescribed outpatient care. The effects of the intervention on patient symptoms and mental health service use will be examined.

Enrollment

120 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

English and Spanish-speaking adult patients (18-and above) presenting to the psychiatric emergency service who rate a "1" or higher on the Spectrum of Suicidal Behavior of Pfeffer screening scale, and who have outpatient followup organized by Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program staff through hospital outpatient psychiatric services are eligible for inclusion.

Exclusion criteria

Subjects less than 18 years old, those rated as not suicidal in the emergency department, subjects with mental retardation/developmental delay, and subjects who have community psychiatric treatment that they elect to continue in lieu of hospital outpatient psychiatric services referral are ineligible.