Mental health triage is a clinical function conducted at the point of entry to health services that aims to assess and categorize the urgency of

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

related problems. Mental health triage services may be located in the

Emergency Department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

, Community Mental Health Services, Emergency Psychiatric Center, Call Centre, or co-located with other specialist mental health services such as the Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team.

Emergency Services Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal wit ...

such as

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

and

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

may also have a co-located mental health triage service. There is considerable variation in the clinical settings in which mental health triage services may be operating. As a consequence, service delivery models may vary. However, the essential functions are to determine the nature and severity of the mental health symptoms presented, determine which service response would best meet the needs of the patient, and how urgently that response is required. A core function of mental health triage is to conduct risk assessment that aims to determine whether the patient is at risk of harming one's self or others as a result of their mental state, and to assess other risks related to mental illness. As with other triage models, the mental health triage clinician must assign a category of urgency to the case, which is recorded using verbal or written indicators of risk such as 'extreme risk' through to 'low risk', or by using numerical (urgency= time-to-treatment) categories 1 (immediate) to 5 (2 hours), as per the 5-point Australasian Triage Scale.

References

#Sands, N. (2007). Mental health triage: Caring for the Australian Community. Issues, 80, p35-38. #Sands, N. (2007). An ABC approach to assessing the risk of violence at triage. Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal, 10, 107-109. #Sands, N. (2007). Assessing the risk of suicide at triage. Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal. 10, 161– 163 #Sands, N., Mental health triage nursing: An Australian Perspective. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 2004. 11:p 150-155. #Sands, N., (2006). Mental health triage: Toward a model for nursing practice. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 14, 243-249. #Gerdtz, M.F, J. Considine, N. Sands, D. Crellin, W. Pollock and C. Steward. (2007). Triage Education Resource Kit. Canberra. #Mental Health Triage Education University of Melbourne https://web.archive.org/web/20081006051907/http://www.cpn.unimelb.edu.au/PDF/Mental%20Health%20Triage%20Training%20Brochure.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Mental Health Triage Triage Psychiatric assessment