The effect of Assertive Community Treatment in Japan

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program in a Japanese mental health service setting.

This study was a randomized controlled trial. ACT was the intervention condition (n = 59), and the usual hospital-based rehabilitation program was the control condition (n = 59). Outcome indicators include in-patient days, psychiatric symptoms, social functioning, quality of life, and client satisfaction. The follow-up period was 12 months after the intervention.

We found a significant reduction of in-patient days for the ACT group demonstrated by t-test (t = 2.33, P = 0.02). However, the results of ancova did not show significant differences for in-patient days between the two groups (F = 1.85, P = 0.18). The depression score for Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale for the ACT group was significantly lower than the control group at the 12-month follow-up assessment (F = 5.57, P = 0.03). According to the t-test, the ACT group had a higher client satisfaction than the control group (t = 2.08, P = 0.05).

We concluded that ACT had a positive influence, as evidenced by a reduction of in-patient days, lower depressive symptoms, and higher client satisfaction.