ABSTRACT
While research and policy highlight the importance of family and relationships in recovery from a mental health crisis, many families still report that they are not included into the care of their loved one. Single Session Family Consultation (SSFC) was identified as a model that had the potential to increase the availability of family interventions in a large public mental health service. The SSFC was piloted across the service. Implementation science principles were used to identify barriers and facilitators to the introduction of SSFC. Strategies selected focused on organizational as well as individual domains, including adaptation of the intervention through consultation with clinicians to suit local processes; data collection to increase awareness of the gaps between existing policy and standards and practice; targeting of specific discipline groups for the roll-out of the intervention; development of materials which promoted and facilitated the paperwork requirements. The roll-out of SSFC was supported by group supervision as well as individual support to clinicians. The pilot indicated that SSFC was an adaptable and flexible framework to support families in care planning process within inpatient and community mental health contexts. A full roll-out of SSFC is currently underway.
