 |
|
What is early intervention in mental health
Early intervention (EI) in mental health is a simple concept drawing on core principles: the prompt engagement, assessment and delivery of effective bio-psycho-social interventions to people at risk of or in the early stages of experiencing mental ill health, appropriate to the stage of their condition and their own developmental phase.
Characteristics of EI include striving to minimise treatment delays through proactive outreach, education, and streamlined referral pathways, maximising the prospects of recovery through the implementation of evidence-based, systemically (family) inclusive and diagnostically agnostic methods, and the delivery of services by multidisciplinary, expert practitioners.
Early intervention strategies have been most comprehensively developed for individuals experiencing psychosis. Our name, IEPA: Early Intervention in Mental Health, reflects our efforts to expand this approach beyond psychosis to other mental health disorders and to other stages of the life course as well as consideration of the implementation of early intervention across diverse healthcare and global settings.
