Monitoring Treatment Progress and Providing Feedback: How to do it in practice using the Chartam Mental Health Planner
Keeping track of a patient’s progress often during therapy is a crucial part of mental health. It involves collecting data about a client's progress during each therapy session.
A clinician can do this by using the Chartam Mental Health Planner. In turn, therapists and doctors use that information to make clinical decisions.
Using monitoring and feedback shows it reduces problems and improves outcomes. This is especially true for patients at risk of not getting better.
Regular tracking of patient symptoms can also help improve mental health services. That said, it has yet to be widely used in actual clinical settings.
Understanding the reasons behind this phenomenon is important for addressing this gap. Clinicians report various barriers, including…
Limited resources
Extra time and paperwork
Lack of training
Patient willingness to complete measures
Concerns about the financial and political aspects of using them
To address these limitations, researchers conducted a study and wrote a paper titled “Monitoring Treatment Progress and Providing Feedback Viewed Favorably but Rarely Used In Practice.” The study aimed to collect data on clinician attitudes toward monitoring and feedback. It also gathered updated information about the actual use of monitoring and feedback in practices.
The first goal was to create reliable attitude measures. Negative attitudes towards evidence-based practice lead to lower use of evidence-based practice. improving attitudes towards standardized assessment tools can predict their increased use. This study focused on two types of attitudes:
general attitudes toward monitoring and feedback
attitudes toward standardized progress measures
A second goal was to collect data about the use of progress monitoring in clinical settings. Prior surveys focused on clinical psychologists and doctoral students. This study targeted social workers, mental health counselors, and marriage/family therapists. This is because they are the most common mental health providers.
So where does the Chartam Mental Health Planner come into play? How can it help clinicians use measurement-based care in practice more regularly?
Table of Contents
Goal 1: Attitude towards Monitoring and Feedback
Goal 2: Usage of Monitoring and Feedback in Clinical Settings
Goal 1: Attitude towards Monitoring and Feedback
The first goal of the research paper was to understand how mental health professionals feel about monitoring and feedback in therapy. The researchers wanted to make sure these measures were reliable. They came up with two measures:
Monitoring and Feedback Attitude Scale (MFA)
Attitudes Toward Standardized Assessment Scales - Monitoring and Feedback (ASA-MF)
The MFA measure had two parts. One part assessed how beneficial clinicians thought monitoring and feedback were in general. The other part measured their concerns about potential harm from negative feedback.
The ASA-MF measure had three parts:
The Practicality scale
Measured practical concerns about using standardized progress measures.
The Clinical Utility score
Measured opinions about the usefulness of standardized progress measures.
The Treatment Planning scale
Assessed their belief in the utility of these measures for planning treatment.
The data from the MFA suggested that clinicians have positive opinions about monitoring and feedback in therapy. They believed it was helpful and disagreed that it could be harmful.
ASA-MF scores showed that clinicians had neutral feelings about using standardized progress measures. This is in terms of their general clinical usefulness and practicality.
This means that clinicians would likely enjoy using the Chartam Mental Health Planner. It offers monitoring and feedback options through the use of continual data generation. It is not a standardized assessment. The design allows it to be more personalized on a patient-to-patient basis. So any negative opinions about standardized measures don’t apply to the Planner. This should translate to positive views of clinical usefulness and practicality.
Clinicians seemed to think it would be good to get feedback about how their clients are doing. But, they weren't convinced that standardized progress measures were the best solution. The sample disagreed with the idea that standardized measures don't add anything valuable. This is in comparison to just talking to clients. However, they also disagreed that standardized measures are more useful than other methods like…
Informal conversations
Observations
This is where the Chartam Mental Health planner can offer a promising middle ground. It allows a clinician to monitor their patients on a moment-to-moment scale. This data helps foster more meaningful conversations. It also allows clinicians to observe the frequency and severity of symptoms over time.
Goal 2: Usage of Monitoring and Feedback in Clinical Settings
There was also a second goal of the research paper. Researchers wanted to check how often clinicians use standardized progress measures. The results were quite surprising.
Some participants reported using measurement-based care practices. Only 13.9% of them did so often enough to improve patient outcomes.
About 25% of participants said they'd like to collect progress data regularly. But only 6.8% said they would prefer to use them every 1-2 sessions. 45% said they'd rather not use them at all.
Now that the Chartam Mental Health Planner is available to providers to use with their patients, opinions may change. The Planner makes it easier to collect information about a patient’s well-being. It also shows clinicians information about the progress they make between therapy sessions. This could translate to more clinicians wanting to use measurement-based care therapy techniques.
Chartam Mental Health Planners
Let's delve deeper into the Chartam Mental Health Planner. It is a valuable tool that clinicians can use to improve patient care. It can simplify the process of monitoring patient progress.
The planner's design makes it easy for clinicians to integrate into their practice. They can do this without adding unnecessary time demands.
The Chartam Mental Health Planner is a powerful ally for clinicians. It enhances patient care by offering a structured and intuitive design. This design allows clinicians to understand and visualize crucial patient information. Tracking progress becomes a breeze, as it provides a clear framework. Clinicians can spot changes and identify trends over time. This helps them tailor their approach to better support their patients.
What makes this planner stand out is its simplicity and efficiency. It doesn't overwhelm clinicians with complex features or time-consuming tasks. Instead, it makes recording and accessing essential data a straightforward process. Clinicians can guide their patients to input information about ...
Mood fluctuations
Goal achievements
Noteworthy insights shared during sessions.
Communication is a key aspect of effective therapy. The Planner excels in facilitating better interaction between clinicians and their patients. By offering a visual representation of progress, the Planner becomes a communication bridge. Patients can see their journey unfold. This fosters a deeper understanding of their mental health. This visual aid is not just informative. It also encourages patients to engage in their therapeutic process.
The Planner goes beyond being a tracking tool. It becomes a catalyst for collaborative goal-setting. As patients see their progress, they can take part in shaping their treatment plans. This empowerment strengthens the therapeutic alliance between clinician and patient. In turn, it creates a more supportive and personalized environment for care.
What makes the Chartam Mental Health Planner particularly impactful is its adaptability. Clinicians can customize templates according to their specific needs and preferences. This flexibility ensures that the Planner aligns with individualized treatment approaches.
The Chartam Mental Health Planner is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It is a versatile tool clinicians can tailor to enhance their therapeutic style.
In summary, the Chartam Mental Health Planner is a revolutionary asset for clinicians. It's ideal for seeking a practical and time-effective solution to track patient progress. It is an indispensable tool for clinicians dedicated to delivering top-notch, patient-centered care because of its...
user-friendly interface
customizable templates
emphasis on communication
Clinicians can elevate the quality of mental health care by integrating the Planner. They can also create a more collaborative and empowering experience for their patients.
Conclusion
This study offers valuable insights into how doctors use monitoring and feedback. This can help in future efforts to improve these practices.
The data suggest that the main reasons why monitoring and feedback aren’t used is because….
Doctors worry about using standardized assessment measures
They worry about how practical and useful they are in comparison to other ways of assessing
Factors related to the organization or setting where therapy happens
To address concerns about the assessment measures, we need to come up with more practical systems. This is where the Chartam Mental Health Planner comes into play. It is easy to use in real-world therapy settings.
We also need to make a stronger case for how these systems are helpful. We need to communicate it's better than only having a casual conversation in each session.
We should also consider alternative ways of measuring progress. Chartam Planners are one such tool.
Therapists working in organizations will need support from their agency leaders and supervisors. Clinicians should have enough time and resources to collect data.
The paper’s findings show that monitoring and feedback are in line with what providers value. But, the challenge remains. We need to find practical ways for providers to use these practices effectively.
