Reducing mental health emergency visits: population-level strategies from participatory modelling.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Emergency departments (EDs) are often the front door for urgent mental health care, especially when demand exceeds capacity. Long waits in EDs exert strain on hospital resources and worsen distress for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. We used as a test case the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), with a population surge of over 27% across 2011-2021 and a lagging increase in mental health care capacity, to evaluate population-based approaches to reduce mental health-related ED presentations.

Methods

We developed a system dynamics model for the ACT region using a participatory approach involving local stakeholders, including health planners, health providers and young people with lived experience of mental health disorders. Outcomes were projected ov

SUBMITTER: Vacher C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11429926 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature