The following is a summary of “ Mental health interventions for individuals with serious mental illness in the criminal legal system: A systematic review,” published in March 2024 in the issue of Psychiatry by Hailemariam et al.
Individuals with serious mental illness often intersect with the criminal legal system at a greater rate than the general population. The U.S. criminal legal system has more people than those receiving care in psychiatric hospitals.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess mental health interventions, outcomes, delivery settings, and implementation barriers for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) in legal involvement.
They used a systematic review to summarize mental health treatment for individuals with SMI with legal involvement. Searches included PsychINFO, Embase, ProQuest, PubMed, and Web of Science articles. Intervention studies detailing mental health outcomes and interventions among this population were eligible articles.
The results tested various interventions, including cognitive, community-based, interpersonal (IPT), psychoeducational, and court-based approaches, in 13 eligible studies. IPT-based interventions showed improvements in mental health symptoms and were feasible and acceptable. Other interventions showed positive trends but lacked statistical and clinical significance. All studies reported treatment outcomes, while only 8 included implementation outcomes.
Investigators concluded that further research in mental health interventions for such a population is warranted, emphasizing randomized designs, larger samples, and non-clinician involvement.
Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-024-05612-7