ASSERTIVE COMMUNITY TREATMENT (ACT)
Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) is a team-based treatment model that provides multidisciplinary, flexible treatment and support 24/7 to people with severe mental illness. ACT is rooted in the belief that people receive better care when their mental health care providers work together. It has been one of the most successful and profitable strategies for assisting individuals with mental illness for some 40 years.
The WellLife Network offers five Assertive Community Treatment teams: in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. These multidisciplinary teams provide assistance to individuals, with a diagnosis of mental illness or co-occurring substance abuse issues, in order that they may live more successfully in the community.
A Continuum of Services
ACT team members help the participant address every aspect of their life:
- Family Life and Social Relationships
- Housing
- Wellness Self-Management and Relapse Prevention
- Daily Activities
- Health
- Money Management and Entitlements
- Integrated Treatment for Substance Abuse
- School and Training Opportunities
- Problem Solving
- Work Opportunities
- Medication Support
- Empowerment and Self-Help
- Crisis Intervention
A Highly Cost-Effective Approach
As one of the best-researched mental health treatment models, ACT has been found to substantially reduce psychiatric hospital use, increase housing stability and improve symptoms and the participant’s quality of life. ACT is highly successful in engaging clients in treatment.
The Team
The WellLife Network assertive community treatment team is multi-disciplined and consists of 10 to 12 staff members from the fields of psychiatry, nursing, social work, family and peer support and professionals with other types of expertise, such as substance abuse treatment (co-occurring disorders) and vocational rehabilitation. Staff members make visits to the clients’ homes, or other locations in the community at least six times each month, and more if needed.
Outcome Expectations
The goal of ACT is to help the clients establish stability, work towards recovery goals and eventually connect them to services in the community so they can be stepped down to more traditional mental health services in the community, such as a clinic or PROS program. While 100% of the clients referred to ACT have a history of multiple hospitalizations and lack of adherence to behavioral health treatment prior to referral, on average only 22% of The WellLife Network’s ACT clients are hospitalized or otherwise unable to be treated in the community at any given time, demonstrating a marked improvement from the point of referral.
For more information, call:
ACT Services
NYC (Manhattan, Brooklyn & Bronx)Tel. 718-439-8972
Long IslandTel. 631-920-8088
