Impact of Person-Centered Planning and Collaborative Documentation on Treatment Adherence

TLDR

Person‑centered planning tailors service planning to clients’ personal life goals and is a recovery‑oriented practice. The study examined how person‑centered planning and collaborative documentation affect service engagement and medication adherence in community mental health centers. Ten community mental health centers were randomly assigned to receive training in person‑centered planning and collaborative documentation or usual care, and medication adherence and service engagement were tracked for 11 months among 367 clients, with models comparing changes between groups. Clients in centers receiving person‑centered planning and collaborative documentation showed significantly higher medication adherence and fewer appointment no‑shows compared to usual care, indicating greater service engagement.

Abstract

Objective Tailoring service planning to clients’ personal life goals, or person-centered planning, has emerged as a recovery-oriented practice. This study examined the impact of person-centered planning and collaborative documentation on service engagement and medication adherence within community mental health centers (CMHCs). Methods Ten CMHCs were assigned randomly to receive training in person-centered planning and collaborative documentation or provide usual treatment. Medication adherence and service engagement were measured for 11 months (May 2009–March 2010) for 367 clients. Models compared changes in medication adherence and service engagement among clients of CMHCs in the control and experimental conditions. Results Medication adherence increased significantly at CMHCs in the experimental condition (B=.022, p≤.01) but showed no significant change at CMHCs in the control condition (B=.004, p=.25). Appointment no-shows at CMHCs in the experimental condition were reduced (odds ratio=.74, p=.001). Conclusions Person-centered planning and collaborative documentation were associated with greater engagement in services and higher rates of medication adherence.