Advising patients not to drive while mentally unwell: an additional challenge for the crisis resolution worker
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Advising patients not to drive while mentally unwell: an additional challenge for the crisis resolution worker

Alan Mills Healthcare assistant (bank worker), Devon Partnership NHS Trust, Exeter, England
Dimitrios Tsiakiris Consultant psychiatrist, Devon Partnership NHS Trust, Exeter, England

Modern life is dependent on transport systems, which raises a number of challenges for mental health crisis resolution and home treatment (CRHT) workers. The primary role of CRHT teams is to assess and home treat patients experiencing a broad range of mental illnesses, but an additional responsibility for the CRHT team is to manage risks associated with their patients driving. Patients who are mentally unstable can be a significant hazard to themselves and others. However, there is little literature to help mental healthcare workers deal with the challenge of advising patients not to drive while mentally unwell. This article draws on the authors’ personal experiences of working in a CRHT team setting and offers recommendations on how workers can advise patients not to drive, if unwell.

Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2019.e1331

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

alan_mills@hotmail.co.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Mills A, Tsiakiris D (2019) Advising patients not to drive while mentally unwell: an additional challenge for the crisis resolution worker. Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2019.e1331

Published online: 20 March 2019

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