Service delivery using consumer staff in a mobile crisis assessment program

Interest has developed in the use of mental health consumers as staff members in community programs for persons with serious mental illness. The present study investigates consumer service delivery in a mobile assessment program designed to assist homeless people with severe psychiatric disorders. Consumer and non-consumer staff were generally comparable. Results suggest that consumer staff engaged in more street outreach and were less often dispatched for emergencies. There was a trend for consumer staff to be more likely to certify their clients for psychiatric hospitalization. In sum, consumer staff appear to provide a valuable contribution to this form of service delivery.