"Treating" A Homeless Mentally Ill Patient Who Cannot Be Managed in the Shelter System

The authors propose a system of case management where skilled mental health professionals are responsible for ensuring that homeless clients with mental illnesses receive a comprehensive range of services, support, and treatment. They stress the importance of first offering tangible benefits like a hotel room or bus pass so that homeless clients who often mistrust mental health professionals will see case managers as providing help, not treatment. Once a positive relationship has been established, treatment issues can be approached (Authors).

Publication Date: 
1986
Pages: 
577-579
Volume: 
37
Journal Name: 
Hospital and Community Psychiatry