Mental Health Crisis/Respite Service: A Process Evaluation

This article describes a process evaluation of a mental health Crisis/Respite service in Ontario, Canada. Service users, referring organizations, and staff members were interviewed and surveyed about their experiences with the service. All three stakeholder groups identified the service as much needed, identifying its role as an alternative to more intrusive forms of crisis support, as a transition place, a safe place, and a place to take a break and work toward goals. As with any program, there are challenges in its development, some of which, the authors argue, are representative of the interaction of two very different approaches to providing mental health services that currently influence our mental health systems.