Crisis resolution/home treatment team workers' understandings of the concept of crisis.
BACKGROUND
The crisis resolution/home treatment (CR/HT) model has brought significant reform of acute mental health care in the UK and beyond. The complex issue of conceptualising crisis is, however, overlooked in CR/HT literature. This study aimed to investigate how crisis is understood amongst those working in CR/HT teams.


METHODS
Framework analysis was applied to semi-structured interviews with 39 CR/HT workers representative of multidisciplinary mix and drawn from four different teams.


RESULTS
Whilst there was an acknowledgment of the concept's complex nature, there was consensus in: respondents' characterising of crisis; about three different presenting clinical patterns ('clusters') encountered in CR/HT work; and, the pattern of the crisis phenomenon over time.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest further development of the CR/HT model, including improving conceptual clarity (to benefit communication with referrers and judge clinical outcome), better timed intervention, and varying intervention for different clusters of crisis presentation.
Tobitt
Simon
S
Westways Resource Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, 49 St James's Road, Croydon, CR0 2UR, UK. Simon.Tobitt@slam.nhs.uk
Kamboj
Sunjeev
S
D000328:Adult; D003210:Concept Formation; D003419:Crisis Intervention / Q000379:methods*; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000592:standards*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D036301:Qualitative Research; D000078329:Workforce