ABSTRACT
Mental health frequent presenters (MHFPs) are mentally ill or disordered consumers with multiple needs who frequently present to emergency services in mental health crisis. They often fail to have their complex health, social, and economic needs recognised or met, relapse quickly, and then present repeatedly to emergency services in the midst of mental health crises (Initiative Watch, 2005). Each mental health crisis experienced equates to a longer recovery period (Hudson, 2007; Hickie, 2008). Emergency services (police, ambulance, and emergency departments) invest substantial resources to manage and stabilise a mental health consumer in crisis. No one benefits in this cyclical crisis band-aid mode of addressing MHFPs’ multiple concerns.
