Treatment-effectiveness research in child and adolescent partial hospitalization

Partial-hospitalization services for children and adolescents continue to be an underutilized component of the mental health delivery system. With little treatment-effectiveness research available, there is limited incentive for shifts in reimbursement policies or for traditional referral sources to alter referral patterns. This paper provides an overview of published effectiveness research, a discussion of methodological difficulties, and an example of ongoing research for critique. Clearly, research in child and adolescent partial hospitalization must begin to address the lack of available effectiveness data. Partial-hospitalization advocates must compare both various program models and treatment of specific populations. In addition, studies comparing outcome of partial-hospitalization programs with outcome from other treatment modes are essential. The entire continuum of care must be subjected to rigorous and scientific study. The next decade will no doubt bring a large number of treatment-effectiveness studies, now lacking, for comprehensive analysis of options and outcomes.