The walk-in clinic

The walk-in clinic is offered as a system of care for the treatment of adolescents because of their need for quickly available, short term, responsive services. The nature of adolescence introduces a temporal sense of urgency while their preoccupation with their physical and mental state determines their need for particular kinds of services. Additional factors are the social attitudes of society towards adolescence and the delicate equilibrium between adolescents and their families and the various institutions of the community. Four distinct experiences are described. These include a walk-in adolescent clinic in a general hospital; an emergency admitting service of a psychiatric hospital; a store front clinic; and an emergency shelter for adolescents. Some of the special problems of each of these distinctly different services are discussed.