The mental health team at HVE (Heilbrigðisstofnun Vesturlands) is a multidisciplinary team providing services to individuals 18 years and older with serious mental disorders who require tighter assistance and follow-up than they do when people first come into the primary healthcare setting. The team comprises a psychiatric nurse, occupational therapist, psychiatrist, user representative and psychologist.

Treatment options

The treatments of the mental health team vary, but the team provides multidisciplinary treatment where the needs of the individual are paramount. At the beginning of the service, a personalized treatment plan is created in collaboration with the patient and is tailored to his needs, preferences and goals along with the diagnosis and clinical evaluation of the therapist. The programme may include specialist medication, therapeutic conversation, setting up an occupational therapy programme, consultation or support, interviews with users' representatives and home visits, the scope of which depends primarily on the severity of the illness. Evidence based treatments within the team are used only and the success of the treatment is regularly evaluated over time.An entry fee is paid for each appointment by the team's therapists. The payment participation system of the Icelandic Health Insurance pays the cost of disability and old-age pensioners, and they therefore do not have to pay for interviews.Unfortunately, the HVE mental health team does not carry out ADHD diagnosis, intelligence tests, developmental assessments or autism diagnosis.The ADHD mental health team at the Headquarters Health Care Centre is responsible for ADHD diagnoses for the whole country, but you can get a referral through your local healthcare centre.The Autism Association can provide advice on where to go for autism diagnosis in adults.

Website: https://www.einhverfa.is/is - Phone: 562-1590

Referral

Referral to the mental health team shall be received through primary care physicians or other institutions as appropriate. However, midwives in antenatal care and infant and toddler protection may in certain cases refer to the team. Referrals may also be received from the psychiatric department of Landspítali if they are a direct continuation of admission. It is important that other measures have generally been tried before the mental health team is referred to.

Location and region

The services of the mental health team cover all the local authorities and residents in West Iceland region, but mostly it takes place in Akranes and Borgarnes. However, we always try to fill the needs of our patients with interviews locally if possible.

Collaboration

The HVE mental health team shall collaborate with other mental health teams and institutions when needed. Among them are the reception psychiatric wards and the psychiatric emergency department of Landspítali. The team also works together with the social services of local authorities in matters where appropriate or other institutions involved in the social and health services of our clients. The mental health team allows themselfs to refer the matter if shown that treatment might be more effective elsewhere.