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Fidelity and Recovery-Orientation in Assertive Community Treatment

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Abstract

There has been increasing commentary about the degree to which Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams provide recovery-oriented services, often centered around the question of the use of coercion. The present study was designed to contribute to this discussion through an examination of recovery-oriented service provision and ACT fidelity among 67 teams in the province of Ontario, Canada. The findings indicated a moderate to high degree of recovery orientation in service provision, with no significant relationship between ACT fidelity and consumer and family/key support ratings of recovery orientation. A significant relationship was found, however, between the ‘nature of services’ domain of the Dartmouth Assertive Community Treatment Scale (DACTS) and ratings of recovery orientation provided by staff and ACT coordinators. These findings extend the existing dialogue regarding the evaluation of ACT intervention process factors and indicate that current measures of fidelity may not be adequately addressing dimensions of recovery-oriented service provision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McMaster Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Centre for Mountain Health Services, J Wing, 100 West 5th St., Hamilton, ON, L8N 3K7, Canada

    Sean A. Kidd & Lindsey George

  2. Independent Clinician Scientist & Head, Psychology Service, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Schizophrenia Program, 250 College Street, Suite 738, Toronto, ON, M5T 1R8, Canada

    Sean A. Kidd

  3. Yale Program on Recovery and Community Health, Erector Sq, Bld. 1, 319 Peck St., New Haven, CT, 06513, USA

    Maria O’Connell

  4. University of Ottawa Department of Psychology, 145 Jean Jacques Lussier St., Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

    John Sylvestre

  5. McMaster University School of Nursing, 75 Frid St. Bld. T30, Hamilton, ON, L8P 4M3, Canada

    Helen Kirkpatrick & Gina Browne

  6. McMaster University Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, 50 Charlton Ave. E., H325, Hamilton, ON, L8N 4A6, Canada

    Lehana Thabane

Authors
  1. Sean A. Kidd
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  2. Lindsey George
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  3. Maria O’Connell
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  4. John Sylvestre
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  5. Helen Kirkpatrick
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  6. Gina Browne
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  7. Lehana Thabane
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Correspondence to Sean A. Kidd.

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Kidd, S.A., George, L., O’Connell, M. et al. Fidelity and Recovery-Orientation in Assertive Community Treatment. Community Ment Health J 46, 342–350 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-009-9275-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-009-9275-7

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