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Mental Health Frequent Presenters to Police: who are they ? Research Project

Mental Health Frequent Presenters to Police: who are they ? Research Project. Presentation to the International Congress on Law and Mental Health 19 th July 2011. Gina Andrews Senior Policy Officer, Mental Health, NSW Police Force andr1gin@police.nsw.gov.au.

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Mental Health Frequent Presenters to Police: who are they ? Research Project

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  1. Mental Health Frequent Presenters to Police: who are they ? Research Project Presentation to the International Congress on Law and Mental Health 19th July 2011 Gina Andrews Senior Policy Officer, Mental Health, NSW Police Force andr1gin@police.nsw.gov.au

  2. Mental Health Frequent Presenters to Police Presentation outline: Setting the scene: a case study Goals of the research project Project history Research stages Research method Research findings Research next steps and program options Conclusion

  3. Scene Set: Mental Health Frequent Presenters Case Study • ‘Naomi’: female aged 18 • 35 apprehensions Mental Health Act in past year • Total of 45 Police events • Victim of sexual assault/incest • History of aggressive behaviour & self harm • Escalating behaviour • Therapeutic response in place but inadequate

  4. Research Goals: Mental Health Frequent Presenters Goals: • To describe the characteristics of persons who have frequent emergency mental health contacts with Police, Ambulance and Health. • Developing appropriate care co-ordination model for this group. • Trial a care co-ordination model.

  5. Project History: Mental Health Frequent Presenters • 2007: One of 8 Mental Health projects developed • Mid 2008 – 2009: Develop business case • 2010: research contract awarded • Jan 2011: Stage 1, Phase 1 Report completed

  6. Research Method: Mental Health Frequent Presenters • Individual agency datasets: persons presenting 3 or more times under the Mental Health Act in a year. • 2005 as index year. • NSW Statewide data identification used (except emergency departments). • Frequent (i.e. individual presenting three or more times in given year under Mental Health Act) vs very high (i.e. top 10% of MHFPs at each agency).

  7. Research Stages: Mental Health Frequent Presenters • Stage 1: Examination of data on Mental Health Frequent Presenters • Within agencies Stage 2: Identify Develop and implement service model/s Phase 1 (completed): Within agencies

  8. Research Findings: Mental Health Frequent Presenters

  9. Research Findings NSWP: Mental Health Frequent Presenters • Over 13, 500 with at least one mental health event. Total of 18, 672 mental health events in 2005. • 7% (1010 persons) of overall population under the MH Act had at least three or more contacts per year therefore qualifying as Frequent Presenters. • 7% of persons apprehended by Police under the Mental Health Act were responsible for 23% of all MH Act events. • 33 people (3.3%) had 10 or more events per annum.

  10. Research Findings NSWP: Mental Health Frequent Presenters • 90% of MHFPs had contact other than MH Act that year: • 82% as a “person of interest” (POI). • 63% as victims of crime. • The Mental Health Act contacts accounted for only around 25-30% of total contacts for frequent presenters. • Frequent presentation was not stable over time – >50% did not continue pattern of MHFP in subsequent years

  11. Research Next Steps: Mental Health Frequent Presenters • Stage 1 : “Phase 2” (linked data): • Awaiting ethics approval • Time and resources required for data analysis & report 2 • Jostling for governance and hosting project. • Stage 2 : Service model development: • Clarification of scope (very high frequent presenters or frequent presenters) • Case management approach (medical & psycho social) • Modeling of costs, business case development.

  12. Research Next Steps: Mental Health Frequent Presenters Possible program response ? TARGET GROUP TYPE OF STRATEGY New / targeted / specialised services Very High FP (top 10% of FP) Approx 50 persons MHFP = 3 contacts with Police = 1010 persons Capacity-building across many services

  13. Conclusion: Mental Health Frequent Presenters • MHFP to Police are a small group who use a disproportionate amount of Police resources • MHFP pattern of interaction with Police is diverse and includes: Mental Health Act, Person of Interest, and victim. • MHFPs are likely to interact heavily with the wider criminal justice system and emergency services. • Evidence base in favour of intensive case management of MHFP demonstrates that such an intervention results in a reduction of MHFPs interaction with emergency services.

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