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Abstract

The point of service for the health care sector has become increasing home based. Funders and policy makers are purposefully driving services away from hospitals and clinics to the homes of the patients. This trend is particularly prevalent in the mental health field. As this direction expands, the risk posed to mental health practitioners providing these services have concomitantly increased both from the patients being treated and the environments many of persons with mental illness reside. As a result, a need for safety conscious worker force, comprehensive worker training and organizational safety strategies are extremely important in the process of managing the risk and provide quality care in home services. The presenter will describe that exposure to violence is a common place experience in many of the urban and suburban areas given the low socio-economic areas most of the patients reside. Discuss how exposure to the threat of violence and crime, is common place and that violence is prevalent both for practitioners and patient stand point. The presenter will describe that risk for practitioners is further exacerbated due to the fact; they face unstable and unpredictable patients and or roommates alone. Therefore, providers and healthcare leaders will need to have comprehensive strategies to manage the risk to practitioners providing in home mental health intervention. The presentation will include individual practitioner field based safety tips and a discussion of the overall needs for risk management strategies for healthcare leaders and what elements these may include.

Biography

Thomas Patitucci holds a MSW from Fordham University and is licensed clinical social worker. He possesses 37 years of experience in managing Mental Health, Assertive Community Treatment, Case Management, Supervised Housing, Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Substance Abuse Services. He has offered consultation and training across the US and Canada; has presented in over 25 natioanal conferences with respect to behavioral health treatment and rehabilitation. He formerly was a Visiting Instructor at the Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work.

Email: tpatitucci@ps-corp.net