[Mutual Support by People with Lived Experience of Mental Distress in Crisis Respites - A Scoping Review]

In various places around the world, crises respites (CR) are being implemented as an alternative to psychiatric treatment, and to offer mutual, short-term residential support by people with lived experience. In this paper, it is examined, how CR are structured, and how - using which approaches and leading to which results - they have been evaluated.

A systematic scoping review of the international literature was carried out. Studies were included, also from the "grey" literature, if they were based on empirical material.

12 articles, relating to 10 CR, were selected. The organisational structures of the included CR were found to be quite heterogeneous. Further, different approaches were used for evaluation (RCT, qualitative, mixed methods).

CR are no substitute for psychiatric care, but a distinct, effective form of support. The influence of people with lived experience is crucial to the implementation and evaluation of CR to preserve their distinctiveness.