REPORT OF THE AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION (APA) TASK FORCE ON INVOLUNTARY OUTPATIENT COMMITMENT

INVOLUNTARY COMMITMENT TO OUTPATIENT TREATMENT

In their report, the APA said the following:

" The members of APA Task Force are in agreement that such commitment to outpatient treatment can be a preferable alternative both to involuntary hospitalization and to no treatment for a specific population of patients. The patients for whom such commitment might be expected to be most effective include those with psychotic illnesses which respond well to antipsychotic medication, but who have a demonstrated pattern of noncompliance with medication after inpatient discharge. Another target population would be those patients who need externally imposed structure in order to function as outpatients, but who are not capable of requesting the establishment of such structure on their own."

"Mandatory outpatient treatment is a preventative treatment for those who do not presently meet criteria for inpatient commitment. It should be used for patients who need treatment in order to prevent relapse or deterioration that would predictably lead to their meeting the inpatient commitment criteria in the foreseeable future."

A copy of the complete report used to be on this page, but the APA wants us to link to their site. The complete report is here:

http://www.psych.org/Departments/EDU/Library/APAOfficialDocumentsandRelated/rd1999MandatoryOutpatient.aspx