Alternatives to admission for children and adolescents: providing intensive mental healthcare services at home and in communities: what works?

There is little high-quality research into the effectiveness of alternatives to inpatient care for young people requiring intensive treatment for complex, severe mental health problems. Studies support the use of alternatives to inpatient admission for particular groups of young people and suggest a need for a combination of complementary models of specialist intensive provision. There is insufficient evidence on which to base decisions on which model is best for which group of young people and randomized control studies are urgently needed.