HVest mental health team - key information
Membership of the team's services
The services of the HVEST Mental Health Team are for persons aged 18 and over who are diagnosed with a mental illness or mental disorders and need intensive multidisciplinary assistance, where mental disorders are the main problem. A person is considered to have a mental disorder if they live with a mental condition or condition that impairs their ability to quality of life, emotional and/or social relationships, participation in studies or work, or activity in society in other respects.
Applications for the team's services must be sent to the team manager on the application form provided for that purpose but applications are accepted from the health and welfare services.
Strictly speaking, the Mental Health Team does not care for persons with developmental disabilities, on the autism spectrum, with an active addiction problem or those deprived of autonomy, but each case is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. HVEST's mental health team is not intended to handle emergency cases, but efforts must be made to meet the needs of new service recipients as soon as possible.
Purpose of the service
HVEST's mental health team's services are based on empowerment and recovery philosophy, which consists in supporting service users in their personal recovery process.
The main goals are to promote and maintain recovery through individualized services and to ensure continuity and integration in treatment. Emphasis is placed on promoting the psychological and social health of the individual and his family, encouraging self-help and self-respect, and supporting the individual in both living a meaningful life and actively participating in society.
The mental health team strives to prevent hospital admissions as much as possible, reduce readmissions and strengthen post-discharge adjustment.
Team activities
HVEST's mental health team is part of the Vestfjörður Health Institute, but it works both according to evidence-based methods and according to the clinical guidelines of the National Health Service.
The service is carried out through home visits or interviews at the mental health team's facilities, depending on what is considered appropriate in each case. The number of visits and interviews is individual and depends, among other things, on the well-being and condition of the service recipient and which factors to work with in treatment. In addition to conversational therapy, group courses in cognitive behavioral therapy (HAM) are offered.
The first interviews/home visits involve getting detailed information from the service recipient and assessing his well-being and current condition. The application is reviewed, an assessment is made of the person's need for services and the activities of the Mental Health Team are presented.
At the beginning of the service, a treatment plan is drawn up in collaboration with the service recipient. Clear and measurable goals are set there, the problem to be worked on is defined, ways to work towards recovery are determined and a plan is drawn up for the duration of treatment. The service recipient and the case manager sign a treatment agreement, which is also a treatment plan, and the service recipient receives a copy.
Reassessment is done every three to six months. In a re-evaluation, the goals of the service are reviewed in accordance with the needs of the service recipient. The goals that were set at the beginning, how the service has gone and what to continue working with are reviewed.
The role of the team is to manage services to the team's clients. The team therefore strives to have an overview of the needs of service recipients regarding support and the team's specific work, communicates this to other employees and collaborates with other organizations as needed.
Emphasis is placed on identifying and working with the maintaining aspects of mental disorders, such as situations, thoughts, memories, feelings, physical symptoms and behavior of the service recipient. The goal of the treatment is to find helpful coping strategies and reduce the impact of the mental health problem on daily life as much as possible.
The employees of the HVEST Mental Health Team always strive to encourage service recipients to be responsible to the best of their ability and to be active in their own treatment and recovery process.
If the service is not used
It is important to notify as soon as possible if an appointment time or other services of the HVEST Mental Health Team will not be used, because unused hours affect other service recipients and those waiting for the service.
If the service recipient does not use the visits/interviews, the reasons for this will be examined and a decision will be made as to what to do next. If it is a new service recipient and the person has not been able to receive the services of the HVEST Mental Health Team for six consecutive weeks, the service recipient must be discharged but also invited to apply later when he is ready to use the service.
When the cancellations of the visits/interviews in a three-month period are more than the visits/interviews that took place, the service recipient will be discussed. If the practice does not improve in the next three weeks, the service recipient must be discharged, while also inviting him to apply later when he is ready to use the service.
At the end of the Mental Health Team's treatment
Since the treatment of service recipients is individual, the duration of treatments varies. The services of the mental health team are generally not intended as long-term treatment, but each case is considered based on the needs of the service recipient.
Dismissal from the team can be for different reasons. The service recipient is discharged from the team either when the condition has stabilized, the goals set at the beginning have been achieved, the service recipient cannot or chooses not to use the team's services, or if it becomes clear that the person needs more services than the team can provide.
The mental health team is on hand to connect service users with other resources after discharge if needed.
If questions arise or if further information is requested, it is recommended to contact the team manager of the Mental Health Team:
Thelma B. Guðmundsdóttir
thelma@hvest.is / 450-4528 / mobile: 862 7424
Phone number:
HVest on Ísafjörður (Bolungarvík, Flateyri, Suðureyri, Súðavík and Þingeyri) – 450 4500
HVest on Patreksfjörður (Bíldudal and Tálknafjörður) – 450 2000
In case of emergency, you can contact
The Psychiatric Department of Landspítala at Hringbraut
Emergency services of the psychiatric outpatient department
Phone: 543-4050 (weekdays from 12-7pm + weekends and holidays from 1-5pm)
In case of emergency outside these hours, you can go to the emergency room in Fossvogur
Landspítala's emergency room in Fossvogur
Phone: 543-1000 (open 24/7)
The emergency line
Phone: 112 (open 24/7)
Red Cross helpline
Phone: 1717 (open 24/7)
Head.: UN