The Assertive Outreach Team (AOT) is a community-based borough-wide service available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The target audience is Brent's adult population aged between 18 and 65 years old suffering from severe and persistent mental illness who are difficult to engage, many of whom have a forensic background, dual diagnosis, multiple and complex needs and with a history of repeated in-patient admissions.
The aim of the AOT is to maintain contact and increase clients' engagement with mental health services and maintain their compliance with treatment programmes. The team provides intensive support for clients in their own homes or in other community settings at times suited to them, using appropriate therapeutic approaches or models in a variety of creative ways to sustain their engagement with services.
The team is made up of multidisciplinary staff with specialist skills dedicated to working with clients accepted into the service. It maintains close working relationships with the community mental health teams (CMHTs), the in-patient services, day hospitals, the A & E Psychiatric Liaison Team, GPs, day care centres, the local authority housing department, and several local community resources and services including voluntary organisations.
Referrals are through community mental health teams.
PALS Link Worker:
Sophia Fearon Phone: 020 8782 3484