Crisis homes for adult psychiatric patients.
BACKGROUND
Inspired by the Crisis Home programme in Madison, we have adapted and evaluated the programme at the Community Mental Health (CMH) Centre in Tønder, Denmark.


METHODS
Procedures and schedules from the Crisis Home programme were applied in this open trial. Questionnaire data concerning satisfaction with the stay and registration data concerning the admissions and bed days two years before and two years after the first stay were obtained.


RESULTS
During four years, 52 different patients had a total of 187 stays in a crisis home. Twenty (38.5%) of the patients were attached to the ACT team. The average duration of the stays was 4.0 days. The number of readmissions and bed days after the first stay showed a significant downward tendency for the subgroup of patients with a more severe mental disorder, but not for the whole group. The patients, the crisis homes families and the referrers were very satisfied with the programme and the treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Crisis home stays represent a quality improvement in the treatment package, especially for patients with a more severe mental disorder. Further documentation will require a controlled study.
Aagaard
Jørgen
J
Community Mental Health Centre, Tønder, Denmark. jag@psykiatri.aaa.dk
Freiesleben
Michael
M
Foldager
Leslie
L
D000328:Adult; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003158:Community Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D003419:Crisis Intervention; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index