Community alternatives to inpatient admissions in psychiatry

The aim of treating people experiencing a mental health crisis in settings other than hospital inpatient wards is not new1. A system of family foster care for people with mental health problems at times of need was established in Geel, Belgium, 700 years ago. In the 1930s, A. Querido set up a home treatment admission‐diversion system in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In the 1970s, P. Polak developed in Colorado a network of crisis services including family placements, crisis beds, an acute day unit and treatment by mobile mental health teams. The first recognizable modern multi‐disciplinary crisis resolution home treatment team was founded by L. Stein in Colorado in the 1970s