REVIEW article

Front. Psychiatry, 03 November 2022

Sec. Public Mental Health

Volume 13 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1011961

Use of compulsory community treatment in mental healthcare: An integrative review of stakeholders’ opinions

  • 1. Department of Psychiatry, ETZ Hospital (Elisabeth-TweeSteden Ziekenhuis), Tilburg, Netherlands

  • 2. GGZ inGeest Mental Health Care, Amsterdam, Netherlands

  • 3. Department of Ethics, Law, and Humanities, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (Location VUmc), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

  • 4. Medical Library, Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands

  • 5. Department Emergency Psychiatry, Vincent van Gogh for Psychiatry, Venray, Netherlands

  • 6. Health Services Research Unit, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway

  • 7. Centre for Care Research, University of South-Eastern Norway, Porsgrunn, Norway

  • 8. Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands

  • 9. Department of Psychiatry, Epidemiological and Social Psychiatric Research institute (ESPRi), Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands

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Abstract

Background:

Multiple studies have examined the effects of compulsory community treatment (CCT), amongst them there were three randomized controlled trials (RCT). Overall, they do not find that CCT affects clinical outcomes or reduces the number or duration of hospital admissions more than voluntary care does. Despite these negative findings, in many countries CCT is still used. One of the reasons may be that stakeholders favor a mental health system including CCT.

Aim:

This integrative review investigated the opinions of stakeholders (patients, significant others, mental health workers, and policy makers) about the use of CCT.

Methods:

We performed an integrative review; to include all qualitative and quantitative manuscripts on the views of patients, significant others, clinicians and policy makers regarding the use of CCT, we searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science Core Collection, Cochrane CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials (via Wiley), and Google Scholar.

Results:

We found 142 studies investigating the opinion of stakeholders (patients, significant others, and mental health workers) of which 55 were included. Of these 55 studies, 29 included opinions of patients, 14 included significant others, and 31 included mental health care workers. We found no studies that included policy makers. The majority in two of the three stakeholder groups (relatives and mental health workers) seemed to support a system that used CCT. Patients were more hesitant, but they generally preferred CCT over admission. All stakeholder groups expressed ambivalence. Their opinions did not differ clearly between those who did and did not have experience with CCT. Advantages mentioned most regarded accessibility of care and a way to remain in contact with patients, especially during times of crisis or deterioration. The most mentioned disadvantage by all stakeholder groups was that CCT restricted autonomy and was coercive. Other disadvantages mentioned were that CCT was stigmatizing and that it focused too much on medication.

Conclusion:

Stakeholders had mixed opinions regarding CCT. While a majority seemed to support the use of CCT, they also had concerns, especially regarding the restrictions CCT imposed on patients’ freedom and autonomy, stigmatization, and the focus on medication.

Introduction

Compulsory Community Treatment (CCT) is available as a coercive outpatient treatment option in many countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, UK, and the Netherlands (1, 2). It is also known as Outpatient Compulsory Treatment or Supervised Community Treatment. The intention of this court-ordered treatment is to offer a less restrictive alternative to involuntary admission and to prevent relapses and the readmissions that can result from problems such as non-compliance with treatment. Although patients remain in the community, they have to comply with certain conditions such as taking medication or keeping appointments. The consequence of not complying with these conditions is usually readmission to a psychiatric hospital (3). In several countries, including United Kingdom, the court order is called a community treatment order (CTO).

There is an ongoing debate about the evidence on the effectiveness of CCT. Reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and pre-post studies on the effects of CCT did not demonstrate that CCT was more effective than voluntary outpatient care, either in reducing the number or duration of hospital admissions or in improving clinical outcomes (4, 5). The last Cochrane review in 2014 summarized the RCTs as follows: “CCT results in no significant difference in service use, social functioning or quality of life compared with standard voluntary care. […] However, [these] conclusions are based on three relatively small trials, with high or unclear risk of blinding bias, and low- to moderate-quality evidence” (5).

The most recent meta-analysis about the effects of CCT, states: “We found no consistent evidence that CCT reduces readmission or length of inpatient stay, although it might have some benefit in enforcing use of outpatient treatment or increasing service provision, or both” (4).

Kisely et al. performed a meta-analysis on outcomes of CCT in Australia and New Zealand. They did not find that CCT reduced the duration or number of admissions (6). Neither did the observational study of Weich et al. (7). There is some evidence suggesting that longer CTO’s are of greater benefit in improving outcome measures (6, 8). Other recent naturalistic studies did find that CCT increased treatment adherence, could increase the time people spent outside hospital, could decrease suicide risk and mortality and could decrease the duration of admission to hospital (811).

Despite discussions about its effectiveness, CCT is still used in many countries (4). This might be because in developing mental health laws, other views, factors, and experiences are taken into account. It may be that stakeholder groups (clinicians, patients, significant others, and policy makers) have positive views on the use CCT, despite a lack of scientific evidence of its effectiveness.

Corring et al. performed a constant comparative analysis of published qualitative research of three stakeholder groups (patients, relatives, and mental health workers) concerning CCT. They find that all three groups see benefits that outweigh the coercive nature of CCT, but also name limitations regarding the representativeness of people on the CTO group, which may bias the results (12).

With this integrative review we added to this knowledge by:

(1) Integrating both the qualitative as well as the quantitative results of studies on the views on CCT of these stakeholder groups, now also searching for the views of policy makers.

(2) Investigating whether their opinion was influenced by having experience with CCT.

Methods

Integrative reviews – the method we chose to analyse the existing literature – were described by Whittemore and Knafl as “the broadest type of research review methods allowing for the simultaneous inclusion of experimental and non-experimental research in order to more fully understand a phenomenon of concern. [They] may also combine data from the theoretical as well as empirical literature” (13). By allowing for the inclusion of different methodologies (e.g., both quantitative and qualitative) to represent the current knowledge on a subject (13), integrative reviews are therefore very suited to analyse the wide-ranging literature on stakeholders’ views and experiences, as any restrictions on the inclusion of the manuscripts based on methodology would lead to the loss of valuable inputs.

Whittemore and Knafl describe five steps in performing an integrative review: (1) Problem identification, (2) Literature search, (3) Data evaluation, (4) Data analysis, and (5) Presentation.

These steps were followed in the execution of this integrative review.

Problem identification

While there is no evidence from empirical studies (see “Introduction” section) that CCT is an effective way to reduce time spent in hospital, the number of admissions or to improve clinical outcomes, many countries still use this measure. Maybe this decision is based on opinions of stakeholders who have other arguments than scientific evidence to be in favor of a mental health system including CCT. Therefore, we would like to know: (1) the opinions of the various stakeholders (patients, significant others, mental health workers, and policy makers) on the use of CCT and whether their opinion was influenced by having experience with CCT; and (2) the advantages and disadvantages of CCT these stakeholders identified.

Literature search

The following electronic bibliographic databases were searched two times, on 24 September 2019 and 27 August 2021 (date last searched) for manuscripts published in English: MEDLINE (via Ovid), EMBASE (via embase.com), PsycINFO (via Ovid), CINAHL (via EBSCOhost), Web of Science Core Collection, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (via Wiley) and Google Scholar. Although we used no filters for dates, populations and study designs, conference abstracts were removed from the search. Using the method described by Bramer et al. (14), the search was developed by an experienced information specialist (WMB) in close collaboration with the first author (DW). It consisted of four elements that are searched as controlled terms (MeSH or Emtree terms) and free text terms in title and/or abstract:

(1) Compulsory or involuntary, (2) outpatient or community, (3) mental health care or psychiatric diseases, and (4) experiences or opinion. We limited the results to articles published in the English language. Appendix 1 lists the search terms for all databases. References were imported in EndNote and deduplicated according to the method described by Bramer et al. (15).

Data evaluation

AM and DW screened the title and, if the title indicated that the manuscript could be relevant, abstract of all the manuscripts in order to identify and include:

  • -

    All qualitative and quantitative studies on the views of patients, significant others (partner, family, and carers), clinicians and policy makers regarding the use of CCT.

In the selected manuscripts, we also checked all references for relevant studies. If there was no initial consensus on including the manuscript for full text reading, or if the title and abstract did not provide enough information to decide whether a manuscript should be included at this stage, the manuscript was selected for full-text reading.

DW and AM separately reviewed the manuscripts selected. Each manuscript was thoroughly read by both DW and LM separately to see if the authors described the opinion of the participants concerning whether or not they supported the use of CCT.

Table 1 describes the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

TABLE 1

Inclusion
- Quantitative and qualitative studies on the views of stakeholders regarding the use of CCT
- Only manuscripts are included that express whether or not stakeholders support the use of CCT
- Manuscripts published only in English in peer-reviewed journals until September 2021
Exclusion
- Manuscripts that do not indicate whether stakeholders support or reject a system with CCT
- Manuscripts that study the same population as another included manuscript (the manuscript that focused most on our question was chosen in these situation)

Inclusion and exclusion criteria in the full text reading phase.

Then from the selected manuscripts the following data was extracted using a data extraction table:

  • -

    Which stakeholder groups.

  • -

    Whether the study used qualitative or quantitative methods.

  • -

    Country the study was performed in.

  • -

    In which way data was collected.

  • -

    Number of stakeholders.

  • -

    Whether or not participants had experience with CCT.

  • -

    For quantitative manuscripts: the percentages of stakeholders that were either for or against CCT.

  • -

    For qualitative manuscripts: terms in the studies that described the stakeholders’ majority view, such as “generally preferred…”, “supported”, “were opposed to”, “rejected” or “favored”. When possible, in the results of this review the literal phrases in the manuscripts are used to describe the results.

Discrepancies between DW and AM regarding the conclusion in qualitative manuscripts that the majority of the participants were in favor, were mixed or against the use of CCT, were discussed until consensus could be reached.

Quantitative results and qualitative results were summarized in a single table.

When the different stakeholder groups mentioned specific advantages or disadvantages of CCT, these were extracted and included in a separate table, being ranked from most to least mentioned by stakeholders in the different manuscripts.

No separate quality assessment of manuscripts was conducted. To ensure the quality of the manuscripts we only included manuscripts that had been published in journals with peer review.

Results

The search in the different databases identified 5,300 manuscripts, from which 2,711 unique articles remained after deduplication. On the basis of their title and in some cases abstract, 2,569 of the identified manuscripts were excluded, as they did not meet our inclusion criteria.

Finally, after full text screening, 55 manuscripts were included in the analysis (see Figure 1).

FIGURE 1

Table 2 lists the stakeholders’ opinions on the use of CCT. Quantitative outcomes are reported as percentages. The outcomes of qualitative studies are reported as they were reported in the manuscript. The number of participants named in the table for these quantitative studies, is, as far as it could be traced back, the number of participants answering the question about CCT.

TABLE 2

StakeholderQuantitative or qualitativeCountryAuthorYearMethodParticipantExperience with CCTSummary of findings
PatientsQualitativeUSAScheid-Cook (3)1993Interviews51 patientsYesGenerally preferred CCT to admission
QualitativeEnglandCanvin et al. (16)2002Interviews20 patientsYesMost believed CCT to be better than hospitalization
QualitativeAustraliaBrophy and Ring (17)2004Focus groups30 patientsYesWere generally dissatisfied with many aspects of CCT
QualitativeCanadaO’Reilly et al. (18)2006Interviews14 patientsYesPreferred a CTO over returning to hospital
QualitativeEnglandGault (19)2009Interviews11 patientsNoAll were opposed to CCT
QualitativeCanadaSchwartz et al. (20)2010Interviews6 patientsYesViews on CCT were mixed
QualitativeScotlandRidley and Hunter (21)2013Interviews49 patientsPartly (35%)Welcomed CCT in the light of an alternative to involuntary admission
QualitativeEnglandFahy et al. (22)2013Structured interviews17 patientsYesViews on CCT were mixed
QualitativeCanadaMfoafo-M’Carthy (23)2014Interviews24 patientsYesMost participants expressed appreciation of CCT
QualitativeNorwayRiley et al. (24)2014Interviews11 patientsYesGenerally preferred CCT to admission
QualitativeAustraliaLight et al. (25)2014Interviews5 patientsYesParticipants experienced ambivalence toward CCT
QualitativeEnglandStroud et al. (26)2015Interviews21 patientsYesParticipants were often keen to stay on the CTO
QualitativeNorwayStuen et al. (27)2015Interviews15 patientsYesParticipants had different views
QualitativeNorwayStensrud et al. (28)2015Interviews16 patientsYesViews on CCT were mixed
QualitativeEnglandBanks et al. (29)2016Interviews21 patientsYesMost preferred CCT to admission
QualitativeCanadaO’Reilly et al. (30)2016Focus groups20 patientsYesWere ambivalent about CCT
QualitativeCanadaFrancombe et al. (31)2018Interviews9 patientsYesGenerally preferred CCT to admission
QualitativeCanadaMfoafo-M’Carthy et al. (32)2018Interviews11 patientsYesMost participants had negative feelings toward CCT
QualitativeEnglandHaynes and Stroud (33)2019Interviews16 patientsYesOverall, patients saw CCT as more favorable than as adverse
QualitativeAustraliaMcMillan et al. (34)2019Interviews8 patientsYesParticipants had diverse experiences of CCT
QualitativeAustraliaBrophy et al. (35)2019Interviews8 patientsYesMost described CCT as wholly negative
QualitativeAustraliaDawson et al. (36)2021Interviews8 patientsYesSome considered CCT to be benign; others felt it had been a negative experience
QuantitativeUSASwartz et al. (37)2003Interviews123 patientsYes72% did not endorse the benefits of CCT
QuantitativeUSASwartz et al. (38)2004Interviews using vignettes104 patientsUnclear55% regarded CCT as fair, 62% as effective
The majority preferred CCT to admission
QuantitativeEnglandCrawford et al. (39)2004Structured interviews103 patientsNo60% preferred CCT over admission
QuantitativeNew ZealandGibbs et al. (40)2006Semi structured interview42 patientsYes65% was favorable toward CCT
QuantitativeIrelandO’Donoghue et al. (41)2010Interviews67 patientsNo56% would prefer treatment in hospital to CCT
QuantitativeNew ZealandNewton-Howes and Banks (42)2014Questionnaires79 patientsYes53% thought they would have been better off treated informally
QuantitativeCanadaNakhost et al. (43)2019Interviews69 patientsYes82% preferred CCT to admission
Significant othersQualitativeUSASwartz et al. (44)2003Interviews using vignettes83 significant othersUnclearGenerally preferred CCT to admission
QualitativeCanadaO’Reilly et al. (45)2006Interviews focus groups14 significant othersYesWere very positive about CCT
QualitativeNew ZealandGibbs et al. (40)2006Semi-structured interviews27 significant othersYesThe great majority supported the use of CCT
QualitativeEnglandGault (19)2009Interviews8 significant othersNoAll were opposed to CCT
QualitativeAustraliaLight et al. (25)2014Interviews6 significant othersYesWere ambivalent about CCT
QualitativeEnglandStroud et al. (26)2015Interviews7 significant othersYesFelt reassured and better consulted with CCT
QualitativeNorwayStensrud et al. (46)2015Interviews11 significant othersYesGenerally supported the use of CCT
QualitativeCanadaO’Reilly et al. (30)2016Focus groups18 significant othersYesWere positive about CCT
QualitativeEnglandBanks et al. (29)2016Interviews7 significant othersYesGenerally positive toward CCT
QualitativeEnglandRugkasa and Canvin (47)2017Interviews24 significant othersYesGenerally supported the use of CCT
QualitativeCanadaFrancombe et al. (31)2018Interviews6 significant othersYesGenerally preferred CCT to admission
QualitativeAustraliaBrophy et al. (35)2019Interviews30 significant othersPartly (33%)Often identified the CTO as helping
QuantitativeUSAMcFarland et al. (48)1990Questionnaires209 significant othersNo57% were in favor of outpatient commitment
QuantitativeNew ZealandVine and Komiti (49)2015Questionnaires62 significant othersPartly
(63%)
67% said that CTOs should be included in mental health legislation
Mental health workersQualitativeUSAScheid-Cook (3)1993Interviews73 mental health workersYesParticipants found CCT to be in general a good thing
QualitativeUSASwartz et al. (44)2003Questionnaires with vignettes85 mental health workersUnclearGenerally preferred CCT to admission
QualitativeCanadaO’Reilly et al. (18)2006Focus groups78 mental health workersYesMost mental health workers felt that orders can be useful
QualitativeNew ZealandGibbs et al. (40)2006Semi-structured interviews90 mental health practitionersYesGenerally favored the use of CCT
QualitativeEnglandTaylor et al. (50)2013Questionnaires9 mental health professionalsYesParticipants were ambivalent about CCT
QualitativeUSASullivan et al. (51)2014Interviews19 mental health workersYesParticipants were not unanimous in their comfort with CCT.
QualitativeEnglandStroud et al. (26)2015Interviews35 mental health workersYesCTT was perceived helpful for certain patients
QualitativeCanadaO’Reilly et al. (30)2016Focus groups27 mental health workersYesGenerally supported the use of CCT
QualitativeNorwayStensrud et al. (52)2016Focus groups22 mental health workersYesParticipants had a positive view of CCT
QualitativeCanadaPridham et al. (53)2018Interviews12 service providersYesSaw CCT as a welcome alternative to admission
QualitativeCanadaMfoafo-M’Carthy et al. (32)2018Focus group Interviews6 mental health workers
1 psychiatrist, 1 programme coordinator
YesBelieved that it was in the best interest of certain patients to use CCT
QualitativeNorwayRiley et al. (54)2018Interviews9 mental health workersYesViewed CCT as a useful scheme
QualitativeNorwayStuen et al. (55)2018Interviews
Focus groups
8 clinicians
20 ACT-providers
YesGenerally believed CTO’s were sometimes necessary
QualitativeEnglandHaynes and Stroud (33)2019Interviews41 mental health professionalsYesFavored CCT over involuntary admission
QualitativeAustraliaBrophy et al. (35)2019Interviews30 mental health workersYesWere ambivalent about CCT
QuantitativeEnglandBurns (56)1995Questionnaires59 psychiatrists
55 Community nurses
101 approved social workers
No96% was willing to work with CCT
69% was willing to work with CCT
77% was willing to work with CCT
QuantitativeScotlandAtkinson et al. (57)1997Questionnaires193 psychiatristsNo86% were against CCT
but did support the use of “leave of absence”
QuantitativeEnglandBhatti et al. (58)1999Structured interviews83 mental health workersNo68% supports the introduction of CCT
QuantitativeEnglandCrawford et al. (59)2000Questionnaires1171 psychiatristsNo46% supported the use of CCT
35% were against
19% were unsure
QuantitativeScotlandAtkinson and Harper Gilmour (60)2000Questionnaires230 psychiatrists
244 mental health officers
Partly
(6%)
69% were against CCT
42% were against CCT
QuantitativeCanadaO’Reilly et al. (61)2000Questionnaires50 psychiatristsPartly
(48%)
62% is satisfied with the use of CCT
QuantitativeUnited KingdomPinfold et al. (62)2002Questionnaires415 mental health workersMight have62% would not welcome powers of CCT
QuantitativeAustraliaBrophy and Ring (17)2004Interviews18 mental health workersYes72% was satisfied with the way the orders were used
QuantitativeNew ZealandRomans et al. (63)2004Questionnaires202 psychiatrists
82 mental health workers
Unclear79% preferred to work in a system with CCT
85% preferred to work in a system with CCT
QuantitativeUSAChristy et al. (64)2009Questionnaires242 mental health workersPartly
(45%)
87% agreed with the use of CCT
QuantitativeEngland and WalesManning et al. (65)2011Questionnaires566 psychiatristsYes
(most did)
60% preferred to work in a system with CCT
QuantitativeEnglandCoyle et al. (66)2013Questionnaires58 psychiatrists
212 other mental health workers
Unclear83% supported the use of CCT
67% supported the use of CCT
QuantitativeUnited KingdomGupta et al. (67)2015Questionnaires94 psychiatristsPartly (78%)55% stated that CCT helped to manage patients with complex needs
QuantitativeTaiwanHsieh et al. (68)2016Questionnaires176 mental health practitionersYes75% preferred to work in a system with CCT
QuantitativeNetherlandsDe Waardt et al. (69)2020Interviews40 mental health workersYes73% supported the use of CCT
QuantitativeSpainMoleon Ruiz and Fuertes Rocanin (70)2020Interviews32 psychiatrists, 10 residents [i.e., doctors] in psychiatryNo92.8% supported the introduction of CCT
OtherQuantitativeUSAMcFarland et al. (71)1989Questionnaires92 commitment investigators
46 judges
No72% supported the theory of outpatient commitment
74% supported the theory of outpatient commitment

Outcomes of the studies that investigated the views of patients, significant others and mental health workers on the use of compulsory community treatment (CCT).

Appendix 2 lists participants characteristics, the kind of service participants were recruited from and the available information about methods of recruitment.

Data analysis and presentation

Patients

We found 29 manuscripts that reported on the views of patients, 22 of which were qualitative and seven of which were quantitative. Participants in 24 of the 29 studies had experience with CCT.

The studies were performed in eight different countries, being; Canada (n = 7), England (n = 7), Australia (n = 5), USA (n = 3), Norway (n = 3), New Zealand (n = 2), Scotland (n = 1), and Ireland (n = 1).

Of these 29 manuscripts, 14 found that the general opinion of patients was in favor of the use of CCT, eight found ambivalent views and seven found that the general opinion was against the use of CCT.

Significant others

In total, 14 manuscripts reported on the views of significant others (12 qualitative studies and 2 quantitative studies), 12 of them found that significant others supported the use of CCT, one found mixed feelings and one found that they were against the use of CCT.

In 11 of the 12 manuscripts in favor of CCT, the relatives had experience with CCT. So did the participants in the manuscript that reported mixed feelings. The participants in the manuscripts that found a negative attitude toward CCT did not have experience with CCT.

These manuscripts originated from six countries; England (n = 4), Canada (n = 3), New Zealand (n = 2), USA (n = 2), Australia (n = 2), and Norway (n = 1).

Mental health workers

Of the 31 manuscripts that reported the views of mental health workers (15 qualitative and 16 quantitative studies), 24 found that the majority of mental health workers supported the use of CCT, 4 found their participants to have mixed feelings and 3 found that their participants were mainly against the use of CCT. Two out of three studies in this last group were carried out in Scotland around the time CCT was implemented; the participants in these studies did not have experience with CCT.

These studies were performed in 13 different regions/countries: England (n = 7), Canada (n = 5), USA (n = 4), Norway (n = 3), New Zealand (n = 2), Australia (n = 2), Scotland (n = 2), United Kingdom (n = 2), Taiwan (n = 1), the Netherlands (n = 1), England and Wales (n = 1), and Spain (n = 1).

There was a wide range of different mental health workers who participated in the studies, amongst them were psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and occupational therapist. Appendix 2 lists the specific occupations for each study, as far as they were reported.

We found no manuscripts that reported the views of policy makers; we did find one study on the views of judges and commitment investigators, the majority of whom supported the use of CCT.

Overall, there are more studies that reported that patients were against the use of CCT (7 out of 29 studies), compared to relatives (1 out of 14 studies) and mental health workers (3 out of 31 studies).

But all stakeholder groups report ambivalence toward CCT.

Since most studies concerned stakeholders with experience, no conclusion can be drawn for all stakeholder groups regarding the influence of experience with CCT on the opinion on CCT.

The majority of these studies (67%) obtained qualitative data and only 18 (33%) studies obtained quantitative data. The 18 quantitative studies used different outcome measures, such as preferring to work in a system using CCT, or stating that CCT helps patients with complex needs.

Table 3 lists the advantages and disadvantages of CCT mentioned by stakeholders in the various studies. These are ranked from mentioned in most manuscripts to mentioned in least.

TABLE 3

Advantages
Patients
- CCT facilitated access to care
- Patients experienced increased support
- CCT could improve mental health
- CCT provided more freedom than involuntary admission
- CCT provided a safety net and a sense of security
Significant others
- CCT facilitated access to care
- CCT facilitated earlier admission
- CCT could provide more safety for the patient
- CCT could take some of the burden away from family members
- CCT could lead to greater carer involvement
Mental health workers
- CCT provided an opportunity to stay in touch and to monitor the patient’s mental health
- CCT could enhance compliance to treatment
- CCT could provide a safety net
- Provided more freedom than involuntary admission
- CCT could improve mental health and avoid involuntary admission

Disadvantages

Patients
- CCT constrained autonomy and was coercive
- CCT was stigmatizing
- CCT interfered with daily life
- The focus of CCT lay too much on medication
- Patients had to deal with the side-effects of forced medication
Significant others
- CCT constrained autonomy and was coercive
- CCT focused too much on medication
- The process of applying for CCT was too cumbersome
- CCT could be stigmatizing
- CCT also put a strain on carers, involving them in treatment
Mental health workers
- CCT constrained autonomy and is coercive
- CCT could interfere with the therapeutic relationship
- CCT imposed an extra administrative burden
- CCT could be stigmatizing
- CCT focused too much on medication

The five advantages/disadvantages reported most often in studies of experience and views of compulsory community treatment (CCT).

The advantage mentioned most often for all stakeholder groups was that CCT facilitated access to care. Furthermore, patients mentioned that they experienced increased support in case of CCT versus not having CCT. Significant others expressed that CCT facilitated earlier admission as an important advantage. And for mental health workers a great advantage was also that it could enhance compliance with treatment.

The most mentioned disadvantage by all stakeholder groups was that CCT restricted autonomy and was coercive. Patients mentioned as second most often that it was stigmatizing. For significant others the second most often mentioned disadvantage was that it focused too much on medication and for mental health workers the second most often mentioned disadvantage was that CCT sometimes interfered with the therapeutic relationship.

Discussion

Despite the lack of scientific evidence for the effects of CCT, this integrative review showed that in half of the studies patients, and in the majority of the studies significant others and mental health workers favored a mental health system that included CCT. Nonetheless, nearly all studies indicated that stakeholders expressed ambivalences about CCT. Patients were more critical regarding the use of CCT than the other stakeholders. The question remains why, despite the ambivalence it raised and in the absence of empirical evidence of its effectiveness, CCT is implemented in so many countries.

It can be helpful to look at the advantages as well as the disadvantages of CCT mentioned by stakeholders more in detail.

The advantage of CCT mostly indicated by patients and significant others was that it facilitates access to care. The rationale for this may be that, if a patient’s situation deteriorated (when being on CCT) he or she would always have someone to contact who could provide the necessary (inpatient) care. The most valued advantage of CCT for mental health workers was that it provided a way to monitor a patient’s health and stay in touch with the patient. This improved access to care is supported in some uncontrolled studies that found that CCT increased the number of outpatient contacts (6).

Another advantage frequently mentioned, was that it provides a safety net and a sense of security.

Research findings also suggest that CCT could provide more safety, since there are studies that find that people on a CTO have a lower mortality rate (10), have lower suicide numbers (11) and were more likely to receive acute medical care for a physical illness (72).

The fact that these advantages seem to be so important for the stakeholders, is an interesting finding, as these advantages also could be achieved without CCT, as long as there is adequate access to care and continuity of care. – as in Italy, where outpatient care is easily accessible (73).

However, it has been argued that just the availability and accessibility of mental health care services alone is not enough to engage all groups of patients into mental health care (30).

The disadvantages mentioned mostly by all stakeholders were that CCT is a coercive measure that it constrains autonomy, and also that it is stigmatizing. Some authors argue on the other hand that CCT can help patients regain their autonomy - and reduces stigma when their stability improves (2). Another disadvantage all stakeholder groups mentioned, is the excessive focus on taking medication. Studies into the main reasons for deciding on using a CTO for mental health workers show that adherence to treatment is the most important reason for deciding to use a CTO (63, 65). Maybe this is because medication is something that mental health workers can easily provide (in contrast to proper housing or daytime activities) and it has proven to be effective in improving certain symptoms of mental health disorders. However, in a study on the opinions of mental health workers, mental health workers stressed that treatment not only involves medication, but other factors were also essential, such as a good therapeutic relationship, proper housing and access to jobs or daytime activities (69).

Overall we find that the majority of the stakeholders prefer a system with CCT and apparently puts the emphasis on the advantages, accepting the disadvantages. Corring et al. (12) come to a similar conclusion in their comparative analysis.

When interpreting studies about the opinions of stakeholders on CCT, it should be kept in mind that there is a difference between comparing CCT with involuntary admission and comparing it with voluntary care in the community. A patient could prefer CCT to hospitalization, but if there was the choice between voluntary care in the community or CCT, this person might choose voluntary care. They thus seem to support CCT, but only if the alternative were hospitalization. In many of the studies in which patients reported that they supported CCT, they meant that they preferred it to admission to hospital.

We think patients’ preference should be taken into account when deciding on compulsory care. This practice is already in place in the Netherlands in the new Dutch mental health legislation in which patients make a care plan which entails that patients have the opportunity to state their preferences regarding compulsory care.

O’Reilly et al. describe a general consensus that “the use of CTO”s is justifiable for certain individuals, but only if it can be shown that CTOs confer significant benefits on those individuals’ (74) which leaves room for patients and their mental health care workers to decide to use CCT if they think it helps the patient.

Strengths

The main strength of this integrative review is that it included quantitative as well as qualitative studies. Another strength is that in the literature search we did not focus on specific stakeholder groups but were open for views of all relevant groups.

Limitations

The review protocol was not prospectively registered, however, no protocol changes have been made during the process, also no separate study quality appraisal has been performed for all the studies included.

Many of the studies included in this review were qualitative studies that were not designed to report representative views, but rather to provide the breadth and nuance of experiences in this field. Views on CCT are all very complex and almost always ambivalent, this makes it difficult to state whether participants are “pro or con” CCT. For that reason we also explicitly investigated the advantages and disadvantages reported in these studies.

Also there might be a form of selection bias, since most of the patient participants were recruited through their mental health workers or they signed up for the study themselves. This could mean that the patients who were doing well or were more satisfied with their treatment, were more likely to participate in the studies.

Implications for future research

First, it remains important to investigate further why stakeholders would support CCT. If accessibility and continuity of care is one of the main reasons, countries should invest in accessible voluntary care and further studies should be done to see how we can engage patients more easily in voluntary care rather than relying on coercive legal structures. Second, it would be good to include policymakers and other stakeholders, like judges or general practitioners in this research, in order to investigate the grounds on which mental health laws on CCT are developed and implemented.

Conclusion

While the majority of all stakeholders appears to support the use of CCT, many have reservations. Stakeholders considered the most important advantages of CCT to be access to care and a way to remain in contact with patients and monitor their health, especially during times of crisis or deterioration. Stakeholders mention as the most serious disadvantage the restrictions CCT imposes on patients’ freedom and autonomy, stigmatization, and the focus on the use of medication.

Statements

Author contributions

DW wrote the research plan, performed the literature analysis, and wrote the first version and later versions of the manuscript. AM performed the literature analysis and contributed to the manuscript. WB developed the literature search, wrote part of the methodology section, and contributed to the manuscript. FH worked on the initial research plan and contributed to the manuscript. JR worked on the analysis of the data and contributed to the manuscript. GW and CM worked on the research plan, the analysis of the data, and took part in writing the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1011961/full#supplementary-material

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Summary

Keywords

involuntary treatment, attitude of health personnel, personal satisfaction, family, personal autonomy, outpatient compulsory treatment, supervised community treatment, community treatment order

Citation

de Waardt DA, van Melle AL, Widdershoven GAM, Bramer WM, van der Heijden FMMA, Rugkåsa J and Mulder CL (2022) Use of compulsory community treatment in mental healthcare: An integrative review of stakeholders’ opinions. Front. Psychiatry 13:1011961. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1011961

Received

04 August 2022

Accepted

18 October 2022

Published

03 November 2022

Volume

13 - 2022

Edited by

Julian Schwarz, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Germany

Reviewed by

Brynmor Lloyd-Evans, University College London, United Kingdom; Teresa Scheid, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, United States

Updates

Copyright

*Correspondence: Dieuwertje Anna de Waardt,

This article was submitted to Public Mental Health, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry

Disclaimer

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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