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Objective

Tailoring service planning to clients’ personal life goals, or person-centered planning, has emerged as a recovery-oriented practice. This study examined the impact of person-centered planning and collaborative documentation on service engagement and medication adherence within community mental health centers (CMHCs).

Methods

Ten CMHCs were assigned randomly to receive training in person-centered planning and collaborative documentation or provide usual treatment. Medication adherence and service engagement were measured for 11 months (May 2009–March 2010) for 367 clients. Models compared changes in medication adherence and service engagement among clients of CMHCs in the control and experimental conditions.

Results

Medication adherence increased significantly at CMHCs in the experimental condition (B=.022, p≤.01) but showed no significant change at CMHCs in the control condition (B=.004, p=.25). Appointment no-shows at CMHCs in the experimental condition were reduced (odds ratio=.74, p=.001).

Conclusions

Person-centered planning and collaborative documentation were associated with greater engagement in services and higher rates of medication adherence.