How evidence-based practices contribute to community integration

Abstract

Since the groundbreaking work of the Robert Wood Johnson Conference in 1998 identifying six evidence-based practices (EBPs) for people with severe mental illness (SMI), the mental health field has moved in the direction of re-examination and redesign of service systems. Surprisingly, one area that has not been fully explicated is the role that EBPs play in promoting community integration. In this paper, we explain how community integration is a unifying concept providing direction and vision for community mental health for people with SMI. As one crucial aspect of the recovery process, community integration clarifies the link between EBPs and recovery. We propose an alternate view, grounded in the empirical literature, to the assertion by Anthony, Rogers, and Farkas [2003, Community Mental Health Journal, 39, 101-114] that "EBP research has rarely demonstrated a positive impact on recovery related outcomes."