Milieu Mastery at Medical Respite—Strategies to Maximize Patient Success

Milieu Management represents one of the greatest challenges in medical respite care. Active substance use disorders, uncompensated mental health symptoms, patient conflicts and the possession of weapons are commonly encountered concerns in medical respite settings. These issues can compromise patient retention and present safety risks. Administrative discharges can result in medical complications and hospital readmissions.  This workshop will review milieu management challenges, program factors contributing to problematic situations to inform prevention strategies and address the management of disruptive incidents. The workshop goals are to support respite programs in enhancing safety and optimizing medical respite patients' completion of needed medical care.