Family aided community treatment as an intervention for the treatment of early psychosis : a proof of concept study

Abstract

Major psychotic disorders are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, having severe impacts on the people who suffer from the conditions, their families and society. There is evidence that if these conditions are identified and treated early, the prognosis is improved. The purpose of this dissertation study is to produce two manuscripts related to the use of family aided community treatment (FACT) with individuals who are experiencing early psychotic disorders. Using a proof of concept design with multiple repeated-measure t tests, this study focused on first-episode psychotic disorder participants (n = 8), with an average age of 19.6 (sd = 3.28) and males comprising 75% of the sample engaged in a family aided community treatment (FACT) protocol in order to examine if psychiatric symptoms scale scores decreased post-intervention. The hypothesis which stated that a year-long family aided community treatment (FACT) intervention would reduce psychiatric symptoms when assessed by the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS), the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), and the Global Functioning Scales in a first episode psychotic disorder sample, is supported. The FACT intervention decreased psychiatric symptom scores in this population. Implications of this study include improved training on early recognition for mental health clinicians and students, implementation of a specific treatment model in community settings, and policy around treatment funding allocation.