Law enforcement and mental health clinician partnerships in global mental health: outcomes for the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model adaptation in Liberia, West Africa.

Journal: Global mental health (Cambridge, England)

Volume: 7

Issue: 

Year of Publication: 

Affiliated Institutions:  PGY- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA. The Carter Center Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation Unit. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, George Washington University. The Carter Center Mental Health Program, Liberia. Georgia Public Safety Training Center, CIT International. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The Carter Center Mental Health Program, Liberia & Department of Health Policy & Management, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University.

Abstract summary 

The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model is a law enforcement strategy that aims to build alliances between the law enforcement and mental health communities. Despite its success in the United States, CIT has not been used in low- and middle-income countries. This study assesses the immediate and 9-month outcomes of CIT training on trainee knowledge and attitudes.Twenty-two CIT trainees (14 law enforcement officers and eight mental health clinicians) were evaluated using pre-developed measures assessing knowledge and attitudes related to mental illness. Evaluations were conducted prior to, immediately after, and 9 months post training.The CIT training produced improvements both immediately and 9 months post training in knowledge and attitudes, suggesting that CIT can benefit law enforcement officers even in extremely low-resource settings with limited specialized mental health service infrastructure.These findings support further exploration of the benefits of CIT in highly under-resourced settings.

Authors & Co-authors:  Boazak Yoss Kohrt Gwaikolo Strode Compton Cooper

Study Outcome 

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Statistics
Citations :  Boazak M, Kohrt BA, Gwaikolo W, Yoss S, Sonkarlay S, Strode P, Compton MT and Cooper J (2019) Law enforcement and clinician partnerships: training of trainers for CIT teams in Liberia, West Africa. Psychiatric Services 70, 740–743.
Authors :  7
Identifiers
Doi : e2
SSN : 2054-4251
Study Population
Male,Female
Mesh Terms
Other Terms
Crisis intervention;developing countries;law enforcement;mental health;police
Study Design
Study Approach
Country of Study
Liberia
Publication Country
England