Course Description

People are often confused by the terminology and jargon used in healthcare circles to describe both the type of facilities that currently exist and their purpose and function. Similarly, the differing roles of specialist teams working within community-based care are not always clearly explained and understood.

Service users’ needs vary depending on where they are in terms of their recovery journey through the system. To respond to these changing needs, and as highlighted in A Vision for Change, all stakeholders need to clearly understand both the function of the stand-alone elements of acute community-based secondary mental health care and how these interface with each other to provide a seamless continuum of care.

This course attempts to bring clarity to the current situation, so that all stakeholders should have a good understanding of the types of service that are available, and the settings from which they operate.

The questions are designed in order to encourage people to read the document thoroughly so as to increase their basic knowledge of the system and to give them more confidence in their everyday interaction with their local services.

Background Reading

Components of Acute Community-Based Secondary Mental Health Care