[ Browse by Service Category : Psychiatric Services : Sub-Topics of Special Psychiatric Programs (2) ]
Assertive Community Treatment
Programs that provide recovery-focused, high intensity, community based treatment, rehabilitation and support services for people with serious and persistent mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder. Services are provided in non-office settings by a multidisciplinary team whose members are trained in the areas of psychiatry, social work, nursing, substance abuse and vocational rehabilitation; and include treatment, help in managing symptoms of the illness, immediate crisis response, case management, peer support, medications, supportive therapy and practical on-site support in coping with day-to-day demands. ACT teams provide nearly all of the treatment and members work collaboratively as a team with blended roles, not as a group of individual practitioners who operate with primary responsibilities of their own. ACT community and clinical services are guided by the consumers' strengths and preferences, an assertive approach, individually tailored programming, ongoing monitoring, variable support, in vivo service, relating to consumers as responsible citizens, direct availability 24 hours per day, utilizing a variety of community resources and collaborating with the family. The ACT model is also known as the Program of Assertive Community Treatment or PACT.
The above terms and definitions are part of the Taxonomy of Human Services, used here by permission of INFO LINE of Los Angeles.