From Police to Healthcare Provider: A Rapid Review of Transfer of Care Models for Individuals in Mental Distress

People in mental distress are best supported by mental health services, yet initial contact often occurs with the police. In many jurisdictions, police may detain and transport individuals at risk to healthcare providers (e.g., emergency departments). This article reviews the literature on models of transfer of care from police to healthcare to identify the types of models reported, the outcomes associated with their implementation and possible factors influencing outcomes. A rapid review was conducted. Embase, Medline, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases as well as grey literature and hand searches were explored to identify primary research studies published in English during January 2010-January 2025. Eligible articles were empirical evaluations or descriptions of models of transferring of care, regardless of methodology. Twenty-four studies were included, most utilising data from crisis response professionals and administrative records. Identified models tend to fall into one of four categories: co-response models, liaison models, designated places of safety models, and screening tools. A range of outcomes that the transfer of care models might influence has been reported including time under police care, rates of police calls and detention/sanctions, quality of care during call and/or transportation, emergency department utilisation/attendance duration, hospital diversion, and treatment admission. Effective communication and inter-service collaboration were identified as key factors in the effectiveness of the models. The identified models of transfer of care show promising outcomes, however, the absence of robust methodological evaluation indicates that the evidence base is not yet sufficiently developed to demonstrate their broader value.