FACT - INTEGRATING FAMILY PSYCHOEDUCATION AND ASSERTIVE COMMUNITY TREATMENT

Family Psychoeducation and Assertive Community Treatment are both stat e-of-the-art service systems with rich empirical foundations, demonstr ating unusual effectiveness in randomized clinical trials. Recent rese arch suggests a possible additive effect on selected outcomes when the two approaches are integrated. This paper reviews the role of family support and intervention in the care of persons with serious mental il lnesses, presents the research literature on psychoeducation, and high lights benefits of merging the multiple-family version of this approac h into the work of assertive community treatment programs.