American Psychiatric Association Publishing Innovative Approaches for Difficult-to-Treat Populations

"Innovative Approaches for Difficult-to-Treat Populations" makes recommendations for developing and disseminating innovative mental health services. Geared toward clinicians, administrators and policy makers struggling to develop both clinically effective and cost-effective mental health and substance abuse services, it focuses on services for individuals who utilise the highest proportion of mental health resources and for whom traditional services have not been effective such as: youths with serious behavioural and emotional disturbances and adults with severe and persistent mental illnesses. The innovative approaches reviewed include diverse treatment methods for differing clinical populations. The transition from centralised to community-based care is discussed, and normalising a patient's daily routine as an important factor in the sucess of state-of-the-art community support programmes is emphasised. "Innvovative Approaches for Difficult-to-Treat Populations" offers mental health professionals and students a firsthand look at the future direction of clinical services. Policy issues necessary to developing and disseminating progressive treatments are addressed, including the downsizing of state psychiatric hospitals, strategies for reforming state mental hospital systems, and ethical issues in research on child and adolescent mental disorders.