A Descriptive Study of Accessibility to Mobile Crisis Services

Mobile crisis services are seen as a secondary modality in provision of health care services. Past research indicated a lack of integration into the health care system and funding as obstructions. Accessing these services is limited to law enforcement, jails, emergency rooms, crisis line phone contacts, and providers. This research explored a mobile crisis service from greater Minnesota as a primary modality in health care services by examining who was accessing the service, voluntary or non-voluntary individuals in relation to hospitalization, and follow up and does this relationship vary by gender, utilizing the chi-square statistical test. Hospitalization and follow up in relation to types of accessibility showed no significant relationship. But the results indicated a significant relationship between types of accessibility, hospitalization, and follow up with using gender as a control variable. The implications of these findings for social work practice include: a) an increase in the number of social workers functioning within crisis services, b) a need for follow up after the initial contact is made 50% of the time, c) 2:1 gender difference in accessing mobile crisis services in greater Minnesota