Psychotherapy for depressed youth in poverty: Benchmarking outcomes in a public behavioral health setting.

Research demonstrating the effectiveness of treatment with youth from low socioeconomic backgrounds is limited. To address this limitation, we evaluated pre-post psychotherapy treatment outcomes with youth presenting with depression-related diagnoses (N = 469) at a public behavioral health agency after they implemented a systematic client feedback approach as a quality improvement strategy. Clients were ethnically diverse youth at or under the poverty line.

Health-related quality of life and the physician-patient alliance: a preliminary investigation of ultra-brief, real-time measures for primary care.

Purpose: Many psychometrically sound measures exist but feasibility makes real-time use difficult. This study validates two ultra-brief, patient-rated instruments, the Wellness Rating Scale (WRS) and the Provider Alliance Scale (PAS).

Methods: The WRS and the EuroQol visual analogue scale (EQ VAS) were completed by patients in a primary care practice (n = 97) and a non-clinical sample of graduate students (n = 122).

Patient feedback as a quality improvement strategy in an acute care, inpatient unit: An investigation of outcome and readmission rates.

High psychiatric readmission rates continue while evidence suggests that care is not perceived by patients as "patient centered." Research has focused on aftercare strategies with little attention to the inpatient treatment itself as an intervention to reduce readmission rates. Quality improvement strategies based on patient-centered care may offer an alternative.

Benchmarking outcomes in a public behavioral health setting: feedback as a quality improvement strategy.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a large public behavioral health (PBH) agency serving only clients at or below the federal poverty level that had implemented continuous outcome feedback as a quality improvement strategy.

Method: The authors investigated the post treatment outcomes of 5,168 individuals seeking treatment for a broad range of diagnoses who completed at least 2 psychotherapy sessions. The Outcome Rating Scale (ORS; Duncan, 2011; Miller & Duncan, 2004) was used to measure outcomes.