Did you know that:
* ACT was originally envisioned as an intensive and mobile intervention in the community supporting the transition from hospital to community
* ACT was viewed as a hospital without walls that focused on community stabilization and without a specified length of treatment
* In fact, the initial view was that consumers would require ACT services forever
Things have changed:
* ACT treatment is now moving towards a model of intervention that is geared towards recovery and community integration
*Increasingly, it is viewed as a time-limited service for those individuals who would benefit from moving on to other community treatment and supports
We're pleased to inform you about important work that the ACT Institute has accomplished with NYS OMH and ACT teams across the state that has ensured a continuous focus on ACT as a time-limited service. Strategies include:
*development of an ACT Transition Readiness Scale to monitor participants' readiness for transition,
*a learning collaborative to develop and implement transition practices, and
*a biannual report for monitoring the flow of participants through ACT
The results have been impressive!
*Comparing statewide data from 2008 to 2014, participants' time in ACT decreased, turnover rate increased, and the percentage of ACT participants who met treatment objectives rose
*Post-ACT rates of ambulatory behavioral health follow-up increased while rates of psychiatric inpatient hospitalization decreased
Focus on ACT as a time-limited service continues
:
*Quarterly reports are now provided by NYS OMH to all NYS ACT Teams that include key recovery based indicators and are used as "touch points" for clinical conversations
*The ACT Institute has developed a series of trainings that supports the development of competencies in transitional practices
To learn more about this important work,
please see this article which was recently published in the journal Psychiatric Services