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Cited by 35Psychiatric care and mental health servicesEmergency and Acute Care StudiesMental Health Treatment and Access

Urgent Psychiatric Services: A Scoping Review

Open access
Sunderji, Nadiya, de Bibiana, Jason Tan, Stergiopoulos, Vicky·2015·The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
DOI 10.1177/070674371506000904PMC PMC4574715
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Abstract

Objective: Urgent psychiatric services can provide timely access to ambulatory psychiatric assessment and short-term treatment for patients experiencing a mental health crisis or risk of rapid deterioration requiring hospitalization, yet little is known about how best to organize mental health service delivery for this population. Our scoping review was conducted to identify knowledge gaps and inform program development and quality improvement. Method: We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase, and EBM Reviews for English-language articles, published from January 1993 to June 2014, using relevant key words and subject headings. Reverse and forward citations were manually searched using reference lists and Google Scholar. Articles were included if they described programs providing ambulatory psychiatric assessment (with or without treatment) within 2 weeks of referral. Results: We identified 10 programs providing urgent psychiatric services. Programs targeted a diagnostically heterogeneous population with acute risks and intensive needs. Most programs included a structured process for triage, strategies to improve accessibility and attendance, interprofessional staffing, short-term treatment, and efforts to improve continuity of care. Despite substantial methodological limitations, studies reported improvements in symptom severity, distress, psychosocial functioning, mental health-related quality of life, subjective well-being, and satisfaction with care, as well as decreased wait times for post-emergency department (ED) ambulatory care, and averted ED visits and admissions. Conclusions: Urgent psychiatric services may be an important part of the continuum of mental health services. Further work is needed to clarify the role of urgent psychiatric services, develop standards or best practices, and evaluate outcomes using rigorous methodologies.

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Authors
Sunderji, N., de Bibiana, J. T., & Stergiopoulos, V.
Affiliations
  • St. Michael's Hospital (CA)
  • Research Coordinator, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario
Corresponding author
Sunderji, Nadiya
ORCID
Venue
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2015-09
Volume
60
Issue
9
Pages
393-402
ISSN
  • 0706-7437 (ISSN-L)
  • 1497-0015
DOI
10.1177/070674371506000904
PMC
PMC4574715
OpenAlex
W2399628553
Cited by
35
References
44
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2015: 1
FWCI
0.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Emergency Medicine › Emergency and Acute Care Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
Keywords
mental health crisis, mental health service delivery, triage, continuity of care, emergency department waiting times, hospitalization avoidance, mental health-related quality of life
MeSH terms
Delivery of Health Care, Emergency Medical Services, Humans, Mental Health Services, Quality Improvement

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