How do you decide when and how often to reach out to patients with serious mental illness who are disengaging from care due to psychosocial stressors?

How do balance concern for safety with patient autonomy? What factors do you take into consideration when determining whether to proactively reach out to a patient who has been intermittently inconsistent with care?

Answer from: at Academic Institution

Outreach is always determined on a case-by-case basis, so it's difficult to give a definitive answer on this. Important factors to consider are the person's functional status, potential risk for harm without care, their decision-making ability, and the intensity of stressors. Obviously, those who ar...

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at Milwaukee Va Medical Center
Department of Veterans Affairs mental health staff...

at Thapar Renu K Office
I am in agreement with the above experts. In an o...

Answer from: at Community Practice

My office will reach out several times. If no response, I will send a formal termination letter with the option to reapply to my practice. That way, I'm not responsible for future problems. I will always continue prescriptions for 60 days.

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How do you decide when and how often to reach out to patients with serious mental illness who are disengaging from care due to psychosocial stressors?

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