The Reason for Admission as a Focus of Work for an Adolescent Unit

Abstract

In recent years provision of care for psychiatrically disturbed adolescents has received increasing attention. The present situation was summarized in a leading article in the British Medical Journal (1971) which emphasized one aspect of this provision—the need for adolescent in-patient facilities based within the community. This paper describes the ideas and practices of an adolescent unit which was opened at Hill End Hospital, St. Albans, in September 1969 to take younger adolescents (up to 16) of both sexes, from the area of the North-West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. This area covers 13,000 square miles and has a population of 4½ million, which the Unit aims to serve with 11 available beds. Who should be admitted to these places is clearly a critical question.

Treatment goal-planning: Outcome findings of a British prospective multi-centre study of adolescent inpatient units

“…Previous studies have either failed to describe treatment interventions at all (Warren, 1965) or described general accounts of the ward milieu and the types of treatment offered (Bruggen et al, 1973;Framrose, 1975;Wells et al, 1978;Ainsworth, 1984;Peripanayagam, 1987). The advantage of this study is that all treatment interventions used in relation to the treatment goals were recorded and an attempt made to relate them to outcome, albeit with limited success.…”

Family resource centres and family breakdown

“…The team at Hill End Hospital has identified the importance of working with the family crisis (Bruggen 1973). If an agency admits a young person immediately on demand, this leads to a false resolution of the crisis, but if the crisis is faced and worked with, the family then begin to work at the issues that are leading to breakdown.…”

What is the question you need to answer? How consultation can prevent professional systems immobilizing families

“…The action of calling a meeting of all the relevant professionals from the consultee's organization to discuss a troubling issue may itself precipitate a decision (Bruggen, Byng-Hall and Pitt-Aikens, 1973;Dimmock and Dugworth, 1985), so completing the consultation work. Here the consultants may, as in a structural family therapy interview, work to promote communication and decision-making between different sub-systems.…”