Non-engagement and the assertive outreach team

• DOI: 10.1192/pb.32.12.474
• Publication Date: 2008-12-01T08:12:40Z
• Authors: Lucy Toynbee; Danny Allen
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; 3. Good health

The concept of non-engagement lies at the heart of the Assertive Outreach Team (AOT) model ([Stein & Test, 1980][1]). However, in our experience there is widespread misunderstanding within mental health services about what this term means. Apart from non-engagement, the other primary criterion for