An examination of telephone triage in a mental health context.

Mental health triage is performed via the telephone in some institutions. The process by which an accurate mental health assessment can be made over the phone has not been documented in the literature. Telephone triage has only been comprehensively investigated within the context of Accident and Emergency departments. This paper provides a summary of the main issues that arise from this literature and then provides a number of research questions that can be directed toward telephone triage in a mental health context.