Supervised community treatment: does it facilitate social inclusion? A perspective from approved mental health professionals (AMHPs)

Purpose - This paper aims to set out the views of approved mental health professionals (AMHPs) on the impact of supervised community treatment (SCT) on their work and their patients' lives in the community.Design methodology approach - The study covered a total of 56 community treatment order (CTO)-related activities undertaken in 2010 in a local social services authority (LSSA) in the north west of England, and looked at data from the records of 25 CTO patients. Nine AMHPs responded to a CTO outcomes questionnaire and five participated in a focus group.Findings - The characteristics of CTO patients in this LSSA study were consistent with national data. AMHPs were often undecided about the benefits of CTOs to their patients. A majority agreed that CTOs could benefit patients by earlier identification of relapse, improving access to housing and reducing the risk of avoidable harm to self or others. However, a majority also agreed that CTOs had not improved patients' access to employment, education, training or recreational activities; nor had they helped reduce the stigma and discrimination that patients faced.Research limitations implications - This was a relatively small-scale study. However, its findings are consistent with previous work in this area, and provide pointers to how SCT can be more effectively implemented across England.Originality value - There is very little published research into the impact of SCT in England. Although small in scale, this study provides valuable insights into the views of AMHPs, who play a core role in the CTO process.