We have the same thing in Ontario. Up here they're called Community Treatment Orders. CTO's are issued by mental health courts to patients who have a history of meds non-compliance and multiple hospital admissions. They're administered/enforced by Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams, that include psychologists, social workers, peer support workers, and nurses. The team makes sure that the patient is meds compliant, that might mean giving them an injection of a long acting antipsychotic, or delivering a weeks supply of meds from a pharmacy, and getting to treatment appointments. Most people on CTO's are on disability and so their meds are paid for by the gov't.
I have very mixed feelings about CTO's. I know one guy who signed a CTO agreement without realizing what it was he was signing, and the CTO mandated a partial hospitalization day program. When he didn't show up, the cops were sent to pick him up and brought him to the hospital in handcuffs. At their best they help people remain healthy and stay out of the hospital, at their worst they can be seen as forced treatment. It's a controversial topic in consumer circles.
splitimage
__________________
"I danced in the morning when the world was begun. I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun". From my favourite hymn.
"If you see the wonder in a fairy tale, you can take the future even if you fail." Abba
|