Abstract
Objective:
To examine hospital outcome measures for individuals with chronic and severe mental illnesses before and after their registration in an assertive community treatment (ACT) program in Edmonton, Alberta.
Methods:
Data were collected from Alberta Health on individuals who were registered in ACT from April 1993 to April 1995. For each individual, hospital outcome measures were calculated for the 365 days prior to and 365 days after registration for ACT (thus covering April 1, 1992-March 31,1996).
Results:
Data were collected from 295 individuals. Compared with 1 year prior to beginning ACT, there was a 34% reduction in hospital separations for patients with psychiatric diagnoses. The average length of stay (LOS) for each separated patient decreased by 56%, and the hospitalization days for each patient separated also decreased by 39%. The number of emergency visits for psychiatric reasons was reduced by 32%, and the number of clients visiting emergency departments for psychiatric reasons declined by 30%.
Conclusions:
In the 1-year period after registration in an ACT program, hospital outcome measures were improved in this cohort of 295 individuals with severe and chronic mental illnesses.