Working with resource groups (RGs) improves empowerment and other mental health outcomes in people with severe mental illness (SMI) who receive community-based mental health services, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry. This method of network-oriented care empowers people with SMI within their own environment. For their study, adults with SMI were randomly allocated to flexible assertive community treatment (FACT) plus RG versus FACT as usual (1:1) in 20 FACT teams. In the FACT plus RG condition, patients chose members from their informal and formal networks to create an RG that met quarterly to discuss self-formulated recovery goals. The RG was integrated into the multidisciplinary support provided by the FACT team. In the FACT as-usual condition, empowerment and involvement of significant others was also part of the provided care. Randomization to the RG condition was associated with a clinically significant increase in empowerment and improved outcomes with small to medium effect sizes in terms of quality of life, personal recovery, quality of social contact, disability, general functioning, and social functioning.
