"Sometimes What They Think is Helpful is Not Really Helpful": Understanding Engagement in the Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT).
This exploratory study recruited a purposive sample of twelve clinical staff from a Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) team in central Virginia to understand the perceptions and experiences related to assertive engagement. The researchers coded the transcribed data initially as twenty-three sub-themes and further refined the data into four overarching themes: characteristics of assertive engagement, PACT engagement strategies and engagement strategies for difficult to engage clients. Further analysis emphasized that PACT team members emphasized the importance of the therapeutic relationship for engagement, which proves challenging for hard-to-engage clients.
School of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1000 Floyd Avenue, PO Box 842027, Richmond, VA, 23220, USA. mgeorge@vcu.edu.
Miriam
M
George
Silver School of Social Work, New York University, 1 Washington Square North, Room 315, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
Jennifer I
JI
Manuel
School of Social Work, University of Oklahoma, 700 Elm Avenue, Norman, OK, 73019, USA.
Megan E
ME
Gandy-Guedes
Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, 107 South Fifth Street, Richmond, VA, USA.
Shenee
S
McCray
Program of Assertive Community Treatment, Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, 107 South Fifth Street, Richmond, VA, USA.
Dina
D
Negatu
D000328:Adult; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D055815:Young Adult
Assertive engagement; Difficult to engage clients; Engagement strategy; Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT); Therapeutic relationship