title: A four-year retrospective study of Assertive Community Treatment: change to more frequent, briefer client contact.
abstract: The authors explored the feasibility of providing frequent, brief client contact as a strategy for reallocating Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) staff time to new clients, while preserving relationships with current clients and ACT program fidelity standards. A retrospective analysis of 4 years of service records for a high-fidelity ACT team revealed gradual increases in staff-client contact frequency, and corresponding decreases in contact duration. During these years, fidelity to ACT standards remained moderately high, and clients' employment and hospitalization outcomes improved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling and Personnel Services, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, MD 20742, USA. pbgold08@gmail.com
authors.forename: Paul B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: Danson R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Cathaleene
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macias
authors.forename: Leonard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bickman
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Hargreaves
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frey
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors