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RESEARCH WEEKLY: Evaluating Assisted Outpatient Treatment Participants’ Satisfaction
By Shanti Silver
(January 25, 2023) Today, the Office of Research and Public Affairs released our newest report, "Measuring Experiences: An Evaluation of AOT Participant Satisfaction." This report presents the results of ORPA’s efforts to develop a free and easy to use tool that can be used to evaluate the experiences of participants in assisted outpatient treatment programs. The results from our pilot study of the tool suggest that participants are satisfied with many aspects of AOT.
Measuring Experiences: An Evaluation of AOT Participant Satisfaction
Assisted outpatient treatment is a community outpatient treatment program for people with severe mental illness who have a history of difficulty with treatment engagement. Under a court order, an individual with severe mental illness is required to adhere to their treatment plan. While there is a wealth of evidence supporting the effectiveness of AOT programs regarding a variety of outcomes, including reductions in hospitalizations and avoidance of criminal justice system involvement, few studies have examined participant satisfaction with various aspects of the AOT program.
ORPA developed a survey that AOT programs can use to collect data on participant satisfaction and conducted a pilot study of the survey in six Ohio counties. The results from this study indicate that despite the court-ordered nature of AOT, people with severe mental illness are satisfied with their participation in the program and feel that the program provides some benefit in improving their quality of life.
Key findings:
- AOT participants reported high levels of satisfaction and feelings of empowerment with regard to both their treatment team and the courts. More than three-quarters of participants agreed that they were satisfied with their treatment team and with the courts.
- Most AOT participants felt they received benefits from the AOT court order and from participating in the program.
- Black participants were significantly more satisfied with their treatment team and with the courts than white participants.
- The aspect of the program AOT participants liked best was the people. For some, this was their treatment team, whereas for others, this was the judge or magistrate.
Few evaluations of assisted outpatient treatment have taken into account the perspectives of AOT participants when determining the impact of programs. Because data collection and evaluation efforts like these can be useful for identifying areas of improvement and for generating interest and understanding about AOT, the Office for Research and Public Affairs has made the "AOT Participant Satisfaction Survey" used in this study is a free, user-friendly tool that is available for all.
To learn more about the study results, read the full report here.
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