Should We Adopt the Dutch Version of ACT? Commentary on “FACT: A Dutch Version of ACT”

Excerpt

Van Veldhuizen’s article challenges the flexibility of assertive community treatment (ACT), the most influential community-based intervention for individuals with severe mental illness, and proposes a Dutch alternative, termed function assertive community treatment (FACT). Controversy is healthy in science, and serious alternative viewpoints to referred wisdom should be welcomed. FACT provides a well-articulated model, bolstered by preliminary experiences suggesting that it is not only feasible but also well received by clinicians. Moreover, ACT has been modified only minimally (e.g., by adding supported employment and integrated dual disorders interventions) over the past 30 years, even as the rest of the service system and other societal factors have changed dramatically. …