Community \u201ccrisis cafes\u201d provide \u201cessential support\u201d to people having mental health crises, according to new research.<\/p>\n
People who have used these cafes, along with their carers, said they provided a \u201csafe, supportive environment\u201d and reduced dependence on hospital emergency departments.<\/p>\n
The cafes are being piloted in a number of locations\u00a0\u2014 including Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Waterford city \u2014 by the HSE and local community groups, with an intention to establish them nationwide.<\/p>\n
They open in the evenings and at weekends with a strong emphasis on peer-support, by people with experience of mental health difficulties.<\/p>\n
Researchers attached to the University of Limerick, along with the HSE, examined studies of crisis cafes across the world, including pilot projects in Ireland, which were set up in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis review reveals that crisis cafes provide essential support during acute mental health crises,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The report comes just a week after the Department of Health published findings from a public consultation into suicide prevention.<\/p>\n
It found people, staff and organisations affected by suicide agree that emergency departments are \u201cdehumanising and retraumatising\u201d for individuals in a suicide crisis.<\/p>\n
These groups said an alternative 24\/7 system \u2014 such as dedicated therapeutic crisis centres \u2014 is \u201cessential\u201d to provide a proper service to people in a mental health crisis.<\/p>\n
The University of Limerick research, published in the Community Mental Health Journal, said the cafes generally do not provide the medical and health services of an ED and focus on psychological support.<\/p>\n
It said the HSE views the cafes as \u201ca supplementary service\u201d to EDs rather than a direct replacement.<\/p>\n
The research said there are limited evaluations of the crisis cafes, as they are new, but that the emerging evidence is positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cService users report that crisis cafes play a crucial role in managing mental health crises, providing a safe and supportive environment that addresses their needs outside of traditional hours,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
It said people in a mental health crisis appreciate having a secure space where they can communicate freely, receive peer support and participate in various activities, with friendly staff.<\/p>\n
The research found that accessibility, location and hours of operation are \u201csignificant\u201d issues and that service users want \u201cextended hours and daily availability\u201d.<\/p>\n
It said that these cafes have demonstrated the \u201ceffectiveness\u201d of peer support, as individuals with experience on mental health issues are emphatic and knowledgeable.<\/p>\n
The report said a \u201cnotable impact\u201d of crisis caf\u00e9s is the reduction in ED visits and mental-health police callouts.<\/p>\n
The research was carried out by Louise Murphy and Owen Doody, both attached to the School of Nursing at University of Limerick and the college’s Health Research Institute, Neasa N\u00ed Dhoibhilin of the HSE and David Bohan of Forum Connemara, Galway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Community \u201ccrisis cafes\u201d provide \u201cessential support\u201d to people having mental health crises, according to new research. People who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[103,61,60,410,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-25551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}