A four-year retrospective study of Assertive Community Treatment: Change to more frequent, briefer client contact

The authors explored the feasibility of providing frequent, brief client contact as a strategy for reallocating Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) staff time to new clients, while preserving relationships with current clients and ACT program fidelity standards. A retrospective analysis of 4 years of service records for a high-fidelity ACT team revealed gradual increases in staff–client contact frequency, and corresponding decreases in contact duration. During these years, fidelity to ACT standards remained moderately high, and clients' employment and hospitalization outcomes improved.