Mental health care has a client retention problem.
Evidence-based treatments for common mood disorders like depression, for example, only lead to full and sustained remission in around half of the clients who receive them, and outcomes are predictably even worse for clients who drop out of treatment prematurely. And, in the case of depression, asking clients to conjure up sufficient motivation and attention to engage in treatment can feel like an insurmountable hurdle. Dropout risk is reflective of the very nature of the disorder.
Therefore, when clinicians want to reduce the likelihood of dropout, it makes sense that they would take steps to ensure that therapy is low-burden right from the start. It also makes sense, then, why clinicians might worry that adding in a step like measurement-based care (MBC) might be a deterrent for clients.
But, new empirical findings show that MBC is one of the most effective tools for reducing client dropout.
A peer-reviewed study recently published in Behavior Research and Therapy set out to test whether three therapist tools - a treatment plan, a list of goals, and a plot of symptom scores - predicted dropout from care. In this study, symptoms were assessed via the Beck Depression Inventory and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. These measures were administered, scored, plotted, discussed, and used to inform the session that day. Sound familiar?
Not only did plotting symptom scores significantly predict lower premature dropout, clients whose care involved plotting symptom scores showed significantly greater symptom improvement compared to clients whose clinicians did not plot symptom scores.
If, as you’re reading this, you’re thinking to yourself that treatment trials don’t often translate to real-world practice, you’re right! But because this study was conducted using data collected in a private practice setting between 1981 and 2009, we can be confident in the validity of these findings.
The authors of the study weren’t surprised. Here’s what they made of their findings:
Of the three tools we studied in our sample, the one that most aligned with our predictions was the plot of symptom scores, which predicted reduced end-of-treatment Beck Depression Inventory score…and predicted lower rates of dropout. This observation is consistent with a growing body of studies showing that measurement-based care and routine outcome monitoring are associated with improved outcome and reduced dropout.
It’s important to note that all clinicians in this study were delivering CBT, so we can’t chalk these findings up to differences in treatment modality. So, why can measurement have such a powerful effect on clinical care?
Remember, MBC is a catalyst, not a barrier, to providing great care. And, Blueprint can help make it easier for your practice to use tools like MBC that protect against dropout. Click here to find out how by starting your free trial.