Abstract
Objective:
In forensic psychiatry, no-show and drop-out rates cause a serious adverse effect on treatment outcomes, recidivism and society. In regular mental health care, positive results from client feedback systems (CFS) have been found to reduce the percentage of no-show and drop-out. This study explores this effect in a forensic psychiatric setting. Method: The Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS) was added to treatment-as-usual (TAU). Patients of our outpatient forensic setting (n = 722) were divided into two cohorts: 1. “TAU” and 2. “TAU-PCOMS”. Drop-out percentage was defined as the primary outcome criterion, secondary outcome measure was the percentage no-show. Results:
In the intention-to-treat analysis drop-out percentages significantly decreased in the feedback condition. In addition, patients more frequently attended
their therapeutic sessions, without an increase in no-show rate. In the per-protocol analysis similar results were found.
Conclusions:
Our findings are promising: adding PCOMS to TAU may have a beneficial effect on drop-out percentage and retention in forensic psychiatry. Future research should focus on optimizing the implementation of a systematic feedback method in the forensic field.
In forensic psychiatry, no-show and drop-out rates cause a serious adverse effect on treatment outcomes, recidivism and society. In regular mental health care, positive results from client feedback systems (CFS) have been found to reduce the percentage of no-show and drop-out. This study explores this effect in a forensic psychiatric setting. Method: The Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS) was added to treatment-as-usual (TAU). Patients of our outpatient forensic setting (n = 722) were divided into two cohorts: 1. “TAU” and 2. “TAU-PCOMS”. Drop-out percentage was defined as the primary outcome criterion, secondary outcome measure was the percentage no-show. Results:
In the intention-to-treat analysis drop-out percentages significantly decreased in the feedback condition. In addition, patients more frequently attended
their therapeutic sessions, without an increase in no-show rate. In the per-protocol analysis similar results were found.
Conclusions:
Our findings are promising: adding PCOMS to TAU may have a beneficial effect on drop-out percentage and retention in forensic psychiatry. Future research should focus on optimizing the implementation of a systematic feedback method in the forensic field.
Original language | Dutch |
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Journal | Tijdschrift voor Psychotherapie |
Volume | 2021 |
Issue number | 2 |
Publication status | Published - 1-May-2021 |
Keywords
- feedback
- Forensic Psychiatry