2017 Outcomes Research Summary Released: Strengthening the Brain and the Body

July 2, 2018

Skyland Trail is a trailblazer in the area of outcomes research, which is an integral part of the evidence-based treatment model. Skyland Trail employs evaluative instruments considered to be the gold standards in the mental health field to measure the effectiveness of the organization’s psychiatric residential treatment and day treatment programs.

Clients complete standardized clinical assessments during the admissions process that measure their symptoms, attitude toward medication and treatment, hope for the future, level of functioning, sense of self efficacy and relationships with others, and physical health. These indicators are also measured when clients complete their treatment at Skyland Trail.

Key overall client outcome measures include:

  • 88% of all clients experienced a statistically significant improvement in functionality, symptoms and social relationships1
  • 74% of clients with anxiety experienced statistically significant improvement in control of anxiety6
  • 76%  of all clients experienced a statistically significant improvement in hope2
  • 90% of clients with very severe symptoms of depression experienced clinically significant reduction4
  • 93% of clients who had clinically meaningful episodes of mania showed no symptoms of clinically meaningful mania at discharge5
  • 92% of clients leave treatment with a positive attitude about taking their psychiatric medication3

Clients also complete diagnosis-specific assessments. These specialized evaluations measure improvement in function and reduction in symptoms for clients with specific diagnoses and provide a more detailed evaluation of treatment effectiveness in addition to the aggregate measures.

The 2017 Outcomes report notes that young adult clients with complex co-occurring diagnoses experience outcomes on par with the broader client population. Young adults, ages 18 to 25 with complex diagnoses – a primary mood or thought disorder with one or more co-occurring diagnoses including substance misuse, borderline personality disorder and anxiety disorders comprise an increasing portion of Skyland Trail’s client population.

The 2017 outcomes report provides an overview of the effects on treatment outcomes of receiving cognitive remediation training and nutrition and fitness programming as part of residential psychiatric treatment.

References

1 Results are significant at the p<.05 significance level. The 32-item Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale (BASIS-32): © Copyright McLean University, Affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

2 Results are statistically significant at the p<.05 significance level. Beck Hopelessness Scale: Beck AT, Weissman A, Lester D, Trexler L. (1074). The measurement of pessimism: The Hopelessness Scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42(6), 861-865.

3 Results are statistically significant at the P<.05 significance level. Medication Attitude Inventory: Hogan TP, Awad AG, & Eastwood R. (1983). A self-report scale predictive of drug compliance in schizophrenics: reliability and discriminative validity. Psychological Medicine, 13, 177-183.

4 Montgomery, S.A. & Åsberg, M. (1979). A new depression scale designed to be sensitive to change. British Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 382-389.

5 Young RC, Biggs JT, Ziegler VE, Meyer DA: A rating scale for mania: reliability, validity and sensitivity. British Journal of Psychiatry, 133:429-435, 1978.6 Hamilton M: The assessment of anxiety states by rating. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 32:50-55,1959.