About ACT

ACT Teams are transdisciplinary, meaning team members work both within their scope or practice and as a "generalist" to create unified service delivery with each client.

On an ACT team, you will find:

• Team members conduct comprehensive assessments together
• Clients are active and participating members in the development of their recovery care plans
• The team is jointly responsible for implementing and monitoring the plan
• Regular team meetings with ongoing transfers of information, knowledge, and skills shared among team members
• Team members make a commitment to teach, learn, and work together
• On average, ACT teams have a minimum of 11 service providers; rural ACT teams will typically have a minimum of 8 service providers

Individuals referred to ACT teams have already utilized standard mental health services offered in their community and would benefit from a supportive approach to care beyond that of standard services.

In addition to having a complex mental health diagnosis (i.e. psychotic or bipolar disorder) or a concurrent disorder diagnosis (i.e. a mental health and substance use challenge), a person referred to ACT may also:

• Live with complex physical health needs
• Experience homelessness due to a mental health challenge
• Be involved with the criminal justice system
• Have complex behavioral health needs
• Experience social isolation and social-functioning challenges
• Are diagnosed with a cognitive impairment
• Have not benefited from traditional, appointment-based services
• May be using acute care services like the emergency department and inpatient care for support

When is ACT not effective?

There is weak or no evidence that supports ACT in some populations. These clients may be directed to alternative community services with other expertise and/or clinical programming better suited to their needs:

• Individuals living with dementia
• Individuals diagnosed with a personality disorder in the absence of a psychotic or mood disorder
• Individuals with a substance use disorder in the absence of a psychotic or mood disorder
• Youth under the age of 19 (in some rural communities, in the absence of Intensive Case Management services for youth ACT may be used)
• Individuals with a high risk for dangerous behavior who cannot be safety supported by staff in the community

Staff on ACT teams in BC strive to provide care that is:

• Evidence informed
• Stigma free
• Recovery orientated
• Trauma and violence informed
• Culturally safe and linguistically appropriate
• Patient and family centered
• Diverse, equitable, inclusive

Regardless of where you live in BC, ACT teams follow a set of guidelines to ensure consistent care for all clients, including:

• Personalized care
• Small, shared caseloads of less that 10 clients per team member
• Crisis response procedures
• Transdisciplinary team approach
• Close monitoring of medication
• Regular team meetings
• No discharge policy
• In vivo care  (i.e. care in a community setting)

ACT teams strive to develop a relationship and trust with all our clients, which takes time. Everyone receiving care and treatment by an ACT team will have a highly individualized care plan developed with support from the entire team and reviewed on a regular basis to align with the client’s goals. In BC, ACT teams continuously learn and build capacity to provide evidence-based treatments for their clients.
These include:

• Medication management (prescription, administration and monitoring)
• Leisure/supported employment
• Psychosocial rehabilitation
• Motivational interviewing
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Harm reduction (supplies and education)
• Family psycho-education
• Integrated concurrent treatment (i.e. substance use treatment alongside mental health needs)
• Advocacy (i.e. housing)