Increasing the Impact of Interventions Incentivizing Psychiatric Treatment Engagement: Challenges and Opportunities

Psychiatr Serv. 2022 May;73(5):580-583. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.202100100. Epub 2021 Sep 9.

Abstract

Individuals with psychiatric disorders often struggle to initiate and engage in treatment. Financial incentives improve treatment engagement, including treatment attendance, medication adherence, and abstinence from substance use. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently made the first large-scale, successful effort to implement incentive-based interventions in substance use disorder treatment. Health care systems, including the VA, can increase the impact of these interventions by extending them to target a range of psychiatric disorders, adapting them for specific clinical contexts, using insights from behavioral economics, and partnering with corporations to fund incentives and implement interventions.

Keywords: Adherence; Mental health systems/hospitals; Mental illness and alcohol/drug abuse; Patient compliance; Veterans issues.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Motivation
  • Psychotherapy
  • Substance-Related Disorders* / psychology
  • Substance-Related Disorders* / therapy
  • United States
  • United States Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Veterans* / psychology