Psychiatric services : a journal of the American Psychiatric Association
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Team design is meticulously specified for assertive community treatment (ACT) teams, yet performance can vary across ACT teams, even those with high fidelity. By developing and validating the Teamwork in Assertive Community Treatment (TACT) scale, investigators examined the role of team processes in ACT performance. ⋯ The TACT scale demonstrated high reliability and validity and can be included in research and evaluation of teamwork in ACT and mental health teams.
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The study aimed to assess the occurrence of overlapping prescriptions for methylphenidate among children and adolescents with newly diagnosed attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and to evaluate the extent to which physician-level and patient-level characteristics affected the risk of prescription overlap during a one-year treatment period. ⋯ In an effort to improve the quality and safety of prescription of controlled substances in younger populations, interventions or policies should be devised to target both the service providers and the patients.
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Punishment of juvenile murderers forces policy makers to weigh the developmental immaturity of adolescents against the heinousness of their crimes. The U. ⋯ Having eliminated the death penalty as a punishment, the Court recently struck down mandatory life sentences without prospect of parole. The decision is interesting for its emphasis on rehabilitation, opening the door to further restrictions on punitive sentences for juveniles-and perhaps for adults too.
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Shared decision making is widely recognized to facilitate effective health care. The purpose of this study was to assess the applicability and usefulness of a scale to measure the presence and extent of shared decision making in clinical decisions in psychiatric practice. ⋯ The rating scale appears to reliably assess shared decision making in psychiatric practice and could be helpful for future research, training, and implementation efforts.