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The brief admission unit in emergency psychiatry
Author(s) -
Clarke Patrick,
Hafner R. Julian,
Holme Gwili
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4679(199712)53:8<817::aid-jclp5>3.0.co;2-c
Subject(s) - psychiatry , psychology , depression (economics) , emergency psychiatry , unit (ring theory) , substance abuse , community service , medical diagnosis , emergency medicine , medical emergency , medicine , mathematics education , public relations , pathology , political science , economics , macroeconomics
The study evaluates a Brief Admission Unit for clients of an emergency service located within a comprehensive community psychiatric program. Eighty‐five clients completed the Brief Symptom inventory and a structured interview. Substance abuse disorder ( n = 29) and major depression ( n = 24) were the most common Axis I diagnoses, of which 30 subjects had two or more. Sixty subjects had an Axis II diagnosis. Mean duration of admission was 3.9 days, compared with the average in other acute units of 11.5 days. At discharge, half the subjects were rated as moderately to greatly improved and client satisfaction was high. The unit was crucial to the psychiatric emergency service and had a key role in relieving pressure on beds elsewhere within the system. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 53: 817–823, 1997