EBD Blog

As some students with EBD grow older, their parents often are faced with critical decisions about ensuring that, as adults, they receive appropriate services. For individuals who may have sudden and substantial needs for psychiatric services, planning for ways to ensure that the person does get those services can be a bewildering problem. A psychiatric advanced directive may be helpful in such circumstances, and the UPenn Collaborative (a group to which I’ve referred previously on EBD Blog) has developed a guidebook and planning sheets for creating a mental health crisis plans or psychiatric advance directives.

Mental Health Crisis Plans and legally binding Psychiatric Advance Directives (”PADs”) contain specific information and instructions about an individual’s treatment needs and preferences during a mental health crisis or psychiatric hospitalization. They support patients’ rights to self-determination during times when they are the most vulnerable and least likely to be able to speak for themselves.
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An advance plan can help psychiatric treatment staff, family and friends quickly implement effective care, and minimize inappropriate, coerced or involuntary treatment that can delay recovery for a person in crisis. This is especially important when an individual is judged to lack the capacity to make decisions regarding his or her own mental health treatment. Studies show a high potential demand for PADs; yet, despite their great utility, few of these important crisis planning documents are created or used.

Download a PDF announcing this resource. Visit the UPenn Collaborative on Community Integration at the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) that is devoted to promoting community integration for individuals with psychiatric disabilities.