Resource Group Assertive Community Treatment (RACT) as a Tool of Empowerment for Clients with Severe Mental Illness: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The aim of the current meta-analysis was to explore the effectiveness of the method here labeled Resource Group Assertive Community Treatment (RACT) for clients with psychiatric diagnoses as compared to standard care during the period 2001 – 2011. Included in the meta-analysis were 17 studies comprising a total of 2263 clients, 1291 men and 972 women, with a weighted mean age of 45.44 years. The diagnoses of 86 % of the clients were within the psychotic spectrum while 14 % had other psychiatric diagnoses. There were six randomized controlled trials and eleven observational studies. The studies spanned between 12 and 60 months, and 10 of them lasted 24 months. The results indicated a large effect-size for the ”grand total measure” (Cohen´s d = 0.80). The study comprised three outcome variables: Symptoms, Functioning, and Well-being. With regard to Symptoms, a medium effect for both randomized controlled trials and non-randomized studies was found, whereas Functioning showed large effects for both types of design. Concerning Well-being both large and medium effects were evident. The conclusions of the meta-analysis were that the treatment of clients with Resource Group Assertive Community Treatment yields positive effects for clients with psychoses and that the method may be of use for clients within the entire psychiatric spectrum.

The critical ingredients of assertive community treatment

“…To accommodate rural settings, a Dutch hybrid service model called flexible ACT (FACT) has embedded a short‐term ACT team within a clinical treatment team, providing intensive services for clients who are in crisis, with easy transition to and from usual services . Other modified versions of ACT to support transitions and flexibility have been developed (e.g., ), but no clearly superior model has emerged.…”

Recovery for all in the community; position paper on principles and key elements of community-based mental health care

“…Furthermore, there is a focus on improving physical health and social inclusion. Best practices that focus on social inclusion include the use of resource groups [62], dialogue approaches [63], housing first [64] and individual placement and support (IPS) [65].…”

Family Group Conferencing—Its Added Value in Mental Health Care

“…The concerns of clients are central in this model and they have an important voice in the decision-making process (Nordén, Ivarsson, Malm, & Norlander, 2011). Wellbeing, functioning and symptom reduction are at the heart of the RACT model (Nordén, Malm, & Norlander, 2012). Within the RACT model, the social network is intensively educated and trained to form a resource group together with professionals (Nordén, Eriksson, Kjellgren, & Norlander, 2012).…”