Li. Stein et al., Work and social support: A comparison of consumers who have achieved stability in ACT and clubhouse programs, COMM MENT H, 35(2), 1999, pp. 193-204
A current debate in the field is whether consumers, who have achieved stabi
lity in Assertive Community Treatment programs, can be transferred to less
intensive services. To bring some data to bear on this question, this study
compared consumers and members, who have achieved stability, in either an
Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) or a clubhouse program, on domains of v
ocational activity, social relationships/loneliness and community integrati
on. The 51 stable clients from the two programs who were interviewed, repor
ted similar vocational activity, similar experiences with social relationsh
ips and social networks, and similar community integration. Clients in both
groups were less lonely than previously reported in the literature. Study
results indicate, that for those clients who have achieved stability, there
are sufficient similarities between consumers in the two programs, to sugg
est a potential for movement from more to less intensive programs with less
disruption than previously assumed possible.