title: Service delivery using consumer staff in a mobile crisis assessment program.
abstract: Interest has developed in the use of mental health consumers as staff members in community programs for persons with serious mental illness. The present study investigates consumer service delivery in a mobile assessment program designed to assist homeless people with severe psychiatric disorders. Consumer and non-consumer staff were generally comparable. Results suggest that consumer staff engaged in more street outreach and were less often dispatched for emergencies. There was a trend for consumer staff to be more likely to certify their clients for psychiatric hospitalization. In sum, consumer staff appear to provide a valuable contribution to this form of service delivery.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Services, and Policy Program, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ruth
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karver
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Slagg
mesh_terms: D003256:Community Participation; D003419:Crisis Intervention; D005260:Female; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008952:Mobile Health Units