Impact of person-centered planning and collaborative documentation on treatment adherence

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 noshows 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.