Attitudes About Mental Illness Among Seminary Students: a Qualitative Analysis.

Tragically, a majority of people with mental illness never seek treatment; however, people may be more likely to seek help from religious clergy than from mental health professionals. In the current study, 25 Protestant seminary students were interviewed. The majority of students considered there to be biological, spiritual, and environmental causes of mental illness and favored psychological, medication, or spiritual treatments.

Explicit and Implicit Stigma of Mental Illness as Predictors of the Recovery Attitudes of Assertive Community Treatment Practitioners.

Background: While explicit negative stereotypes of mental illness are well established as barriers to recovery, implicit attitudes also may negatively impact outcomes. The current study is unique in its focus on both explicit and implicit stigma as predictors of recovery attitudes of mental health practitioners.

Method: Assertive Community Treatment practitioners (n = 154) from 55 teams completed online measures of stigma, recovery attitudes, and an Implicit Association Test (IAT).

Implicit and explicit stigma of mental illness: attitudes in an evidence-based practice.

The extent to which explicit and implicit stigma are endorsed by mental health practitioners using evidence-based practices is unknown. The purposes of the current study were to a) examine implicit and explicit biases among Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) staff and b) explore the extent to which biases predicted the use of treatment control mechanisms. Participants were 154 ACT staff from nine states.

Measuring the recovery orientation of assertive community treatment.

Background: Approaches to measuring recovery orientation are needed, particularly for programs that may struggle with implementing recovery-oriented treatment.

Objective: A mixed-methods comparative study was conducted to explore effective approaches to measuring recovery orientation of assertive community treatment (ACT) teams.

Design: Two ACT teams exhibiting high and low recovery orientation were compared using surveys, treatment plan ratings, diaries of treatment visits, and team leader-reported treatment control mechanisms.

A comparison of self-reported and phone-administered methods of ACT fidelity assessment: a pilot study in Indiana.

Objective: Monitoring fidelity of assertive community treatment (ACT) teams is costly. This study investigated the reliability and validity of a less burdensome approach: self-reported assessment.

Methods: Phone-administered and self-reported assessments were compared for 16 ACT teams.

Processes underlying treatment success and failure in assertive community treatment.

Background: Processes underlying success and failure in assertive community treatment (ACT), a widely investigated treatment model for persons with severe mental illness, are poorly understood.

Aims: The purpose of the current study was to examine processes in ACT by (1) understanding how consumers and staff describe the processes underlying treatment success and failure and (2) comparing processes identified by staff and consumers.

Method: Investigators conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 staff and 23 consumers from four ACT teams.

A comparison of phone-based and on-site assessment of fidelity for assertive community treatment in Indiana.

Objective: This study investigated the reliability and validity of a phone-administered fidelity assessment instrument based on the Dartmouth Assertive Community Treatment Scale (DACTS).

Methods: An experienced rater paired with a research assistant without fidelity assessment experience or a consultant familiar with the treatment site conducted phone-based assessments of 23 teams providing assertive community treatment in Indiana. Using the DACTS, consultants conducted on-site evaluations of the programs.

The work of recovery on two assertive community treatment teams.

The compatibility of recovery work with the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model has been debated; and little is known about how to best measure the work of recovery. Two ACT teams with high and low recovery orientation were identified by expert consensus and compared on a number of dimensions. Using an interpretive, qualitative approach to analyze interview and observation data, teams differed in the extent to which the environment, team structure, staff attitudes, and processes of working with consumers supported principles of recovery orientation.

Staff and consumer perspectives on defining treatment success and failure in assertive community treatment.

Objective: Although assertive community treatment (ACT) has been consistently recognized as effective, there has been little research as to what constitutes success in ACT. The purpose of this study was to understand how ACT consumers and staff define treatment success and failure and to examine whether definitions varied between staff and consumers.

Methods: Investigators conducted semistructured interviews with 25 staff and 23 consumers from four ACT teams.