Nubain Addiction

Randomised evaluation of assertive community treatment: 3-year outcomes, The British Journal of Psychiatry (2009) 195: 81-82.

Helen Killaspy, PhD, MRCPsych

Department of Mental Health Sciences, University College London (UCL) Medical School, Hampstead Campus and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, London

Stella Kingett, MRCPsych

Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, London

Paul Bebbington, PhD, FRCP, FRCPsych

Department of Mental Health Sciences, UCL Medical School, Bloomsbury Campus and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, London

Robert Blizard, BSc, MSc, FRSS

Department of Mental Health Sciences, UCL Medical School, Hampstead Campus, London

Sonia Johnson, DM, MRCPsych

Department of Mental Health Sciences, UCL Medical School, Bloomsbury Campus and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, London

Fiona Nolan, BSc and Stephen Pilling, BSc, MSc PhD

Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness, UCL, Torrington Place, London

Michael King, PhD, FRCP, FRCGP, FRCPsych

Department of Mental Health Sciences, University College London (UCL) Medical School, Hampstead Campus and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

Abstract:

The only randomised controlled trial to test high-fidelity assertive community treatment (ACT) in the UK (the Randomised Evaluation of Assertive Community Treatment (REACT) study) found no advantage over usual care from community mental health teams in reducing the need for in-patient care and in other clinical outcomes, but participants found ACT more acceptable and engaged better with it. One possible reason for the lack of efficacy of ACT might be the short period of follow-up (18 months in the REACT study). This paper reports on participants’ service contact, in-patient service use and adverse events 36 months after randomisation.

Lancashire Care staff can request the full-text of this paper, email: susan.jennings@lancashirecare.nhs.uk