Co-responding to mental health issues within the policing, health and social care services in the 21st century: A scoping review

Background The Community Access Support Team is an initiative aimed at improving crisis response for people facing mental health challenges or trauma. It brings together policing, health and social care in a co-response team that offers compassionate, timely support, reducing the need for risk and emergency department visits. Co-responding has three core elements namely specialised call handling, a joint police mental health team, and a community support hub for follow-up care. This scoping review, which follows the JBI Methodological Framework, aims to explore and map the extent, range and nature of research related to co-responding and to identify gaps in existing literature. Methods Following a search of various online databases, two independent reviewers underwent a two-step screening process on Covidence; a total of 29 papers were included for data extraction. The mapping included a review of the various models and regulatory frameworks underpinning service providers, type of interventions, outcomes and stakeholder experiences (providers, person, family). Findings Co-response teams improved interagency collaboration and service co-ordination; they reduced jail bookings and emergency department transport. Service users felt better understood and communicated with compared to police-only responses. Police gained confidence and received more crisis training. Conclusions Co-response teams help to improve service user care and access to community mental health services. However, there is limited evidence of the long-term cost-effectiveness, and some challenges included role conflict, staffing and data sharing issues.