Evidence-based Treatment Programs for Serious Mental Illness

Much more about these programs can be found in the SAMHSA Psychosocial Interventions for Older Adults with SMI_PEP21-06-05-001.

Assertive Community Treatment

Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) employs a multidisciplinary team of 10-12 providers to meet the varied needs of adults with serious mental illness (SMI), including services such as medications, psychotherapy, employment, and housing.

SAMHSA’s ACT Evidence-Based Practices KIT provides free implementation tools.
The Center for Evidence-Based Practices at Case Western Reserve University provides technical assistance, including fidelity evaluation, consultation, and training, for ACT teams as well as the Getting-Started Guide online.
The UNC Institute for Best Practices maintains a resource library, ACT listserv, and discussion board for ACT team members.
The SPIRIT Lab at the University of Washington offers several free online resources to aid ACT implementation, including sample worksheets and the Tool for Measurement of Assertive Community Treatment (TMACT) fidelity assessment.
SAMHSA’s Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network hosts events to support implementation, such as this archived presentation for ACT Team Leaders.

Cognitive Behavioral Social Skills Training

Cognitive Behavioral Social Skills Training (CBSST) offers adults with schizophrenia a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and social skills training to improve functioning.

The CBSST website contains information about CBSST implementation and training opportunities.
Cognitive-Behavioral Social Skills Training for Schizophrenia: A Practical Treatment Guide provides user-friendly provider scripts, teaching tools, exercises, activities, and reproducible consumer workbooks.

Functional Adaptation Skills Training

Functional Adaptation Skills Training (FAST) integrates social cognitive therapy with the Social and Independent Living Skills program it improve independence and quality of life among adults with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Programa de Entrenamiento para el Desarrollo de Aptitudes para Latinos

Programa de Entrenamiento para el Desarrollo de Aptitudes para Latinos (PEDAL) is the Spanish version of the Functional Adaptation Skills
Training (FAST) program described above.

Integrated Illness Management and Recovery

Integrated Illness Management and Recovery (I-IMR) is a self-management program for adults with serious mental illness and chronic medical conditions. Built on the Illness Management and Recovery Program, I-IMR includes psychoeducation, cognitive behavioral interventions for treatment adherence and relapse prevention, along with social skills training.

The Center for Collaborative Mental Health Research offers information and training on I-IMR.

Helping Older People Experience Success

Helping Older People Experience Success (HOPES) is a community-based intervention for older adults with serious mental illness that provides skills for social interaction, living in the community, and health promotion.

The Center for Collaborative Mental Health Research offers information and training on HOPES.