Outcomes
The lack of rigorous research data has been a challenge in the world of psychiatry and mental health treatment for many years. This is an issue Skyland Trail hopes to help rectify by taking a supporting role in researching and testing the most effective treatment options for people with mental illness.
Skyland Trail is a pioneer in developing outcomes research capacity for longitudinal tracking of clients following treatment. The goals of this research are to assist individual clients in ongoing symptom control and to gain a macro understanding of the relation between different treatment alternatives and long-term results.
Basis 32, the industry standard assessment tool, is used to measure recovery progress of Skyland Trail clients. Both client self-reporting and clinical staff reporting consistently indicate improvement in symptoms and life function over the period of treatment.
In May, Skyland Trail's clinical team began working on the VALERO Study, an innovative research initiative aimed at developing assessments to quantify and VALidate the Everyday, Real-life Outcomes of people with serious mental illness. The program, which is sponsored by the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) in conjunction with Emory University's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, began in May 2008. Skyland Trail was one of two test sites selected nationally for the VALERO Study.
