Service and Patient Predictors of Continuation in Clinic-Based Treatment
Nancy Atwood Ph.D.1 and
James C. Beck M.D.,Ph.D.2
1 The Social Work Department in the Outpatient Clinic at the Brockton Area Office of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health
2 Harvard Medical School at Cambridge (Mass.) Hospital
12 Hillcrest Circle, Waban, Massachusetts 02168
The authors studied 125 chronic patients who entered treatment at five community mental health clinics to identify the patient and service predictors of continuation in treatment. Patients who remained in treatment at the end of one year were significantly more likely than those who dropped out to have received medication at early visits, to have participated in psychotherapy, and to be chronically psychotic. Analysis of the clinics that most successfully retained patients in treatment indicated that service characteristics rather than patient characteristics accounted for the clinics' success. The authors discuss the treatment programs at the two most successful clinics and the implications of the findings for community clinics.
Note:
The authors thank Janet Zollinger Giele for helping to develop the research design and Elizabeth Eastwood for her statistical analyses.
