title: Milestones to recovery: preliminary validation of a framework to promote recovery and map progress through the medium secure inpatient pathway.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Forensic mental health care in the UK has undergone a rapid expansion since the late 1990s. In medium secure units (MSUs), there is growing emphasis on developing care pathways without much theoretical underpinning. We developed a concept of 'Milestones to Recovery' (MTR) to measure progress through the MSU pathway.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to validate the MTR framework. Our hypotheses were that patients scoring higher on the MTR Scale would be more likely to be aggressive to others in the following 6 months and resident in the acute areas of the unit and that those scoring lower would be more likely to be discharged within 6 months of the assessment.
  
  
  METHODS
  An MTR scale was developed to enable the investigation of the validity of the MTR framework and evaluated with staff evaluations of 80 resident patients using a prospective, longitudinal and naturalistic design.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results suggest that the MTR framework is valid in discriminating between different stages on the MSU pathway. Therapeutic engagement was particularly important in terms of progress through the MSU, whereas current behaviour was important in predicting future aggression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Further research is required to test the MTR framework across different levels of security, with larger samples and within different populations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Provides a framework to map progress through the service. Identifies key factors that influence recovery and rehabilitation. Potential to promote dialogue between patients and staff, and enhance motivation.
authors: Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and School of Community Based Medicine, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. michael.doyle@manchester.ac.uk.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Doyle
authors: Caroline
authors: C
authors: Logan
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Ludlow
authors: Josanne
authors: J
authors: Holloway
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019091:Critical Pathways; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012637:Security Measures; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult