Addressing victimization to enable societal participation in flexible assertive community treatment: A process evaluation of the implementation of a new intervention.

Background: Individuals with severe mental illness experience more victimization and discrimination than other persons in the community. Effective rehabilitation and recovery-oriented care interventions aimed at addressing this issue are lacking. We therefore developed a victimization-informed intervention (accompanied by a training module for professionals) called the Victoria intervention. The purpose of the present study was to understand the trial effects by examining the implementation process and the factors that influenced it. Materials and methods: A process evaluation was conducted using a mixed-methods design. During the professionals' intervision sessions, we used observations to understand the learning processes (n = 25). Subsequently, we studied the use of the intervention in practice through structured questionnaires (n = 215) and semi-structured interviews (n = 34) with clients and professionals. We used descriptive and inferential statistics for the quantitative data and the framework method for the analyses of the qualitative data. Results: The observations showed that the trainings were well received. The professionals shared the urgency of paying attention to victimization and discrimination and its harmful effects on participation. They also found the intervention steps to be logical and the intervention protocol easy to use. Nevertheless, they mentioned in the interviews that they had experienced difficulties initiating a conversation about victimization, and if they started one, they did not always follow the steps of the intervention as intended. Few clients said that victimization was placed on the agenda, though those who had discussed victimization with their caregivers expressed their appreciation in the interviews; they felt acknowledged and supported. Discussion: The findings indicate that the intervention was considered helpful in raising awareness and the acknowledgment of victimization. However, professionals remain reluctant to talk about the subject, and the results show they need more practical training in this regard. This process evaluation has an important added value in that it helps us to understand the results of the effect evaluation of the intervention. The findings will facilitate the development and implementation of interventions that address clients' victimization experiences in community mental healthcare settings and subsequently enable their participation in society.

Intervention to prevent and manage the effects of victimization related to social participation for people with severe mental illness: Results from a cluster randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals with severe mental illness often face (anticipated) discrimination and (criminal) victimization, which have severe consequences for their social participation. The aim of the present study is to assess the effectiveness of a new intervention to manage and prevent revictimization, and to support safe participation by recognizing and acknowledging the impact of their victimization experiences. METHOD: A multicenter cluster randomized controlled trial was performed by following clients from four intervention teams and four teams providing care as usual. The primary outcomes were social participation, victimization, and discrimination. The secondary outcomes were acknowledgment of difficulties, self-efficacy and empowerment, quality of life, and psychosocial functioning. Data were collected at baseline, and after 10- and 20-month follow-ups. The data were analyzed according to the intention-to-treat principle using linear mixed models and generalized estimating equations. In total, 400 clients were included in the analyses: 216 in the intervention group and 184 in the control group. RESULTS: For experienced discrimination and acknowledgment of difficulties and recovery support, we found small but significant time by condition interactions after 20 months. Both experienced and anticipated discrimination, and self-efficacy increased slightly in both groups. No significant differences were found for other outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The intervention had no effect on victimization and participation, but there were indications that it was successful in moderating experienced discrimination. The clients also felt significantly more acknowledged and supported in their recovery process. Further development of the intervention is needed, and future research should focus on improving implementation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Development of an Intervention Aimed at Increasing Awareness and Acknowledgement of Victimisation and Its Consequences Among People with Severe Mental Illness.

Individuals with severe mental illness have a significant risk of (anticipated) discrimination and (criminal) victimisation, which is not structurally and systematically addressed by mental health practitioners. The aim of this study was to develop and pilot an intervention which supports professionals to address victimisation and its consequences, in order to reinforce safe social participation and improve recovery. Following the rehabilitation and positive risk management literature, in addition to current practice, intervention components were developed in two focus groups and four subsequent expert meetings. The intervention was piloted in two outpatient teams before being finalised. The Victoria intervention includes positive risk management, focusing on clients' narratives and strengths, and awareness of unsafe (home) environments: it comprises four steps: exploring issues with social participation, analysing victimisation experiences, clarifying the context of these experiences, and determining future steps, including victimisation-sensitive rehabilitation planning and optional trauma treatment. Future research should further test this intervention.

Reliable and clinically significant change based on the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales.

To evaluate treatment outcomes of individual patients based on clinician-rated instruments, the assessment of reliable and clinically significant change (RCSC) is essential. In heterogeneous samples, RCSC underestimates treatment outcome. Therefore, the Reliable Change Index (RCI) was adjusted by a stratification into subsamples. This method was tested on the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) ratings (n = 12,547) at admission and discharge of youths (age 6-18 years) treated in ten psychiatric institutions. Based on the test-retest reliability of a subsample (n = 397), the RCI was calculated for three severity groups ("very severe," "moderately severe," and "subclinical/mild"). Individuals who accomplished reliable change during treatment and moved to a subclinical score were classified as recovered. Using the traditional RCSC calculation, the large majority (75.1%) of the sample would be considered as unchanged, 2.9% as deteriorated, 18.9% as improved, and 3.1% as recovered. Using RCI cutoff points based on the severity ratings at admission results in a more representative distribution of outcome groups, where 54.6% of the sample was stable, 7.5% worsened, 21.6% improved, and 16.3% recovered. This methodological framework for calculating RCSC for heterogeneous populations is applicable for all HoNOS instruments, making it very useful for mental health professionals.