Early Intervention Mobile Outreach Service (EIMOS)

EIMOS can provide intensive support and clinical intervention for parents, carers and partners of clients in care. EIMOS can also work collaboratively and closely with multiple organisations, including government organisations and NGOs, as well as with other healthcare providers to optimize holistic care of clients within our service.

EIMOS is a specialist, multidisciplinary group of Family, Child and Youth Mental Health clinicians, working at the Alfred Child & Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS). EIMOS provides care to young people living in the inner south catchment area who are aged between 4 and 24 years, and to those aged between 4 and 17 years living in the middle south catchment area.

Alfred EIMOS is one of five state-wide Intensive Mobile Youth Outreach Services (IMYOS) in Victoria. IMYOS services were developed to provide intensive outreach mental health case management and support to young people who display substantial and prolonged psychological disturbance, and have complex needs that may include challenging, at risk, and suicidal behaviours. These services work with young people who have been difficult to engage using less intensive treatment approaches.

EIMOS provides mental health care to young people who:

Exhibit significant risk of adverse outcomes. These might include:

• poor adherence with necessary treatments
• recurrent suicidal ideation; history of multiple suicide attempts or self-harming behaviour
• developmental risks including as vulnerability secondary to developmental delays or further risk of disrupted developmental trajectory
• risk of exploitation
• offending or other similar challenging behaviour
• dangerous drug and alcohol issues
• social isolation
• lack of support system
• homelessness

Display significant mental health challenges:

• A significant proportion of the young person’s difficulties should be the result of their psychiatric presentation, rather than an adverse situation, offensive behaviour or primary protective concerns
• There should be a clearly defined and appropriate role for CYMHS in the provision of intensive mental health care in the context of the young person’s circumstances and current care team arrangement

Demonstrate a need for intensive therapeutic or intensive care coordination and intervention as a result of their mental health presentation. This might include individuals who:

• have or require complex care team involvement
• frequently require inpatient admissions or have frequent contact with mental health crisis services
• display serious difficulty engaging with mental health services despite significant, genuine attempts to assess the family and the young person

Overall, EIMOS treatment should be regarded as a targeted service option that can offer a more flexible, assertive and intensive mental health treatment response in the community than other clinic-based CYMHS assessment, treatment and liaison services.

EIMOS service provision model

Service provision provided by the EIMOS is based on assertive outreach, a flexible approach to consumer engagement and assistance, and focuses on intensive intervention, thereby empowering both the young person and their support network.

EIMOS clinical staff provide care in phases which include:

• proactive engagement of the consumer and completion of a comprehensive assessment of mental health and social wellbeing
• collaborative planning of intervention strategies
• implementation of therapeutic interventions
• case closure planning

The individual treatment and recovery plan is a vital tool in identifying and tracking the consumer’s treatment goals for their episode of care, in the context of their recovery process.

Therapeutic intervention

Intensive care coordination enables the development of an individualised system of care tailored to the young person’s needs. Therapy is directed to address specific psychological disorders that may diminish the person’s ability to relate to others, or impair other aspects of their everyday functioning. EIMOS clinicians focus on resolving care-system dysfunction through collaboration, consultation and training. This improves the capacity of the young person’s system of care to understand and adequately support the young person.

EIMOS intervention strategies broadly include:

• intensive mental health care coordination
• medication review and management overseen by the team’s Consultant Psychiatrist
• physical review by appropriately trained clinicians in collaboration with the broader care team where relevant
• individual, parent & family therapy
• assistance to engage with educational, occupational and social services to optimise health outcomes
• collaboration, consultation and training to services supporting the client

CASEA Program

EIMOS also provides the CASEA program (CAMHS and Schools Early Action).

The CASEA program is a primary school based program designed to help children, families and schools with children’s social, emotional and behavioural development. CASEA was developed by the Department of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Department of Education and Training and the Catholic Education Office.

CASEA works with partner schools and intervenes primarily in the following ways:

• The program identifies children with a variety of emerging social and emotional issues including: getting on with peers; anxiety; and difficulties with emotions and behavior. The CASEA team addresses this through:
  • group based intervention at school for parents and children
  • focused, time-limited individual work for child and parents
  • through referral to other appropriate services including Alfred CYMHS.
• CASEA helps schools with their goals around social emotional learning. Our philosophy is to collaborate with key school staff to develop a useful intervention rather than implement a predetermined program. This could include:
  • Professional Learning for staff (example topics include, Emotion Coaching, Feelings, and Behaviour)
  • working with welfare staff around their processes
  • developing an ongoing relationship with EIMOS and relevant local stakeholders.  

Typically, EIMOS comes to a school for 2 days a week for 2 terms. Following this EIMOS is happy to discuss further involvement that may be useful for the school (e.g. consultation, referrals to Alfred CYMHS or other services).

Schools need to be able to provide:

• rooms for EIMOS staff for two days a week for two terms
• one School staff member to attend each group. This will help the group process and also pass on the knowledge of the intervention (EIMOS will supply all resources necessary to run program).

If your school has an interest in this program, please contact our service directly.