How Patient Engagement Solutions Support Crisis Intervention for Mental Health Care

Crisis intervention can provide people with the mental health support they need in critical moments. It typically includes a psychiatric evaluation and treatment to avoid escalation and prevent immediate harm. Studies find that emergency departments with crisis intervention teams experienced reduced return visits and duration of stays. Crisis intervention can also prevent further complications, promote ongoing treatment to stabilize a person’s condition and connect them with proper resources for critical moments.

Patient engagement solutions play a vital role in this context, as they can enhance client communication and support in a crisis. When you integrate these digital tools with your electronic health records (EHR), clients get real time access to information and resources and receive support in critical moments. Read on to learn how engagement solutions can support crisis intervention, enhance outcomes and foster ongoing recovery for your clients.

What Is Crisis Intervention?

Crisis intervention involves counseling people who are confronting challenging life events and mental health issues. Crisis services to address these issues can take many forms. Generally, they include verbal de-escalation strategies, talk therapy, medications, outpatient and inpatient referrals and treatment planning.

Crisis services start with an evaluation to learn more about the client’s mental health challenge and identify immediate safety issues that might exist. These assessments can also uncover other health or social issues that might need to be addressed. An individualized treatment plan will be set to achieve the following goals:

Lowering the intensity of the emotional, behavioral or physical responses to the crisis
Helping individuals regain their pre-crisis levels of functioning
Strengthening and developing a client’s support network and coping skills

Health care providers and behavioral health facilities might use intervention techniques for a period of weeks. These techniques can provide emotional support and minimize the stress clients are experiencing. Counseling will also equip them with important coping strategies to feel better and support long-term recovery.

Common Types of Crises

People going through changes like pregnancy, aging, puberty or the death of a loved one can experience intense emotions that put them at risk for self-harm or make it hard for them to function. Crisis intervention may also be necessary after experiencing events that threaten their mental, social and physical well-being, such as an injury, mental health conditions, divorce or job loss. Substance use disorder crises, severe anxiety attacks and suicidal ideation are also situations that warrant immediate intervention.

If left unmanaged, a person experiencing a severe crisis will often deal with significant mental stress, which is linked to major depressive disorder and other mental health conditions.

The Role of Patient Engagement Solutions

Digital engagement solutions can play a critical role in crisis management. Through client outreach and remote monitoring, individuals can access the support and resources they need in critical situations. These tools offer the following primary solutions:

Immediate communication: Digital patient engagement solutions can provide immediate communication between providers and clients in a crisis. Text messaging can serve as a primary communication channel, replacing the traditional client portal for better accessibility. Clients can more easily receive reminders, appointment links and forms without needing to navigate a complex portal.
Enhanced access to care: Engagement tools can also enhance access to care, which is vital in a crisis. Telehealth capabilities provide a HIPAA-compliant avenue for clients to receive real time consultations during crises. Plus, through text messaging, clients can easily schedule urgent appointments, reducing barriers to care.

Features Supporting Crisis Management

Digital engagement solutions have several features that can support crisis intervention strategies:

Automated Communication

Digital patient engagement platforms send automated reminders and links for appointments, digital intake forms and video conferences. By providing clients with immediate access to essential mental health education resources, the digital solution can reduce missed appointments and allow for timely intervention. Engagement platforms proactively keep clients informed and engaged in their care — promoting better health outcomes during critical moments.

Digital Intake Forms and Support

Patient engagement solutions offer quick access to digital intake forms via text messages. This can streamline assessments during a crisis, as clients can easily complete forms from their phones. It also reduces the time your practice spends on paperwork and leads to faster evaluations. This immediate access is critical in high-stress situations, as it can minimize delays and ensure your clients get the care they need as soon as possible.

Community Connection

Engagement platforms facilitate group therapy sessions and offer links to local crisis intervention resources. Your clients can quickly access these crucial resources in times of need:

Group therapy: Group therapy offers a space for your clients to connect with others going through similar challenges. In the safe, virtual space, they can share experiences and offer mutual support, fostering a sense of belonging that is essential in a crisis. Integrating these video appointments into the platform also ensures that your clients can quickly access resources that complement their individual treatment plans.
Community resources: Engagement platforms can provide links to local support services and crisis intervention resources directly through text messages. This ensures your clients have easy access to critical help. Whether it’s a hotline, a nearby counseling center or community support groups, mental health education resources are just a click away.

Follow-up and Ongoing Support

Engagement platforms send out automated reminders for follow-up appointments, which can gently encourage clients to engage with care and attend necessary appointments. Consistent messaging can emphasize the importance of ongoing treatment and support their long-term recovery. Additionally, remote client monitoring through texts can help you spot clients needing support. The platform analyzes response rates and appointment attendance so you can tailor your client outreach efforts and clients get the help they need.

Empowering Providers

The platform offers comprehensive training and resources for providers so they can effectively use the system during crisis situations. Training will include best practices for engaging clients, learning the system’s features and interpreting data insights. The platform allows seamless communication among your care teams, making it easy to coordinate your crisis interventions. Through messaging and collaboration tools, you can share real time updates, discuss client progress and come up with care plans — promoting better client outcomes and quick care delivery.

Data-Driven Insights

Engagement solutions also include client data management tools and tracking and analyzing crisis intervention cases. By collecting response times, client demographics and treatment effectiveness, you can spot trends and develop personalized care approaches for better outcomes. You can also collect client feedback to learn what works and what needs improvement. Ultimately, data-driven insights can help you enhance the quality of your crisis services and build trust with clients.

Improve Crisis Intervention With Digital Patient Engagement Solutions

Patient engagement solutions can enhance your crisis intervention strategies by offering immediate resources and support. At Mend, our engagement tools can help you deliver exceptional care while streamlining administrative tasks in a crisis. We partner with you to ensure that every client, regardless of their digital savviness, has the tools to engage with their care effortlessly.

Our portal-free experience significantly improves communication, bridging the gap between emergency care and ongoing support. By closing this gap, we allow behavioral health care providers to focus on what matters most — delivering exceptional care. To get started, call 1-866-934-2713 or request a demo today.