Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Browse
Thirty years of referrals to a community mental health service.pdf (73.29 kB)

Thirty years of referrals to a community mental health service

Download (73.29 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2019-11-22, 17:14 authored by Leonard Douglas, Larkin Feeney

Objectives:

In recent decades mental health services have become increasingly community based and multidisciplinary. However, it is unclear if referrals have changed over this period. The aim of this study was to compare referrals to a community mental health service over a 30-year period.

Method:

New referrals to a community mental health service were randomly sampled from 4 time points over a 30-year period, 1983, 1993, 2003 and 2013, using a mental health information system. Original referral letters were retrieved and anonymised. Referrals were compared with regard to referral sources, demographics, reason for referral, psychotherapy requests, urgency, risk concerns and subsequent hospital admission.

Results:

There was a 20-fold increase in the number of new referrals between 1983 and 2013. Over the 30 years there was a significant decrease in the proportion of referrals expressing concern about psychosis, but an increase in the proportion that were deemed urgent and which were concerned with suicidal risk. Referrals in 2013 were longer and more likely to contain requests for psychotherapy.

Conclusions:

The work of community mental health teams is increasingly concerned with emotional crises. Although services are now more multidisciplinary, they have not been adequately resourced to meet these changing demands.

Funding

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest and that this study received no funding.

History

Comments

This article is also available at http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=10295582&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0790966715000282

Published Citation

Douglas L, Feeney L. Thirty years of referrals to a community mental health service. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine. 2016;33(2):105-109. [Published online: 08 July 2015]

Publication Date

2015-01-01

PubMed ID

30115143

Department/Unit

  • Beaumont Hospital
  • Psychiatry

Usage metrics

    Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC