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Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment - A Practical Guide, ed. McGlynn (2006)
Rapid, mobile response
The sooner a problem can be dealt with and treatment commences, the shorter the period of suffering and the less likely deterioration is to occur. It is thus essential that the team is mobile. There are some people who will not come to a clinic or a centre or an A&E department, despite everyone's efforts to get them there, because they do not believe they need help, or they do not want help. Seeing people in their own environment allows them to be more natural, more of their social network is likely to be involved and staff can evaluate the circumstances in which treatment is to take place. A problem with A&E assessments is that service users and carers sometimes have an expectation that admission to hospital will be the next step, and even if staff do not think this is warranted, time and effort has to be expended to overcome that view. (p. 16)