Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT)

The Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) is dedicated to assisting persons with mental illness. PACT is a proactive process model that reaches out to enable persons with mental illness to become independent citizens in their communities.

Psychiatric care and addiction intervention are the core of PACT. Our doctors and nurses provide the most effective medications to treat consumers' psychiatric symptoms, as well as careful monitoring necessary to control the symptoms and to reduce side effects. They help consumers develop the greatest possible personal involvement in the treatment of their illness.

The best way to integrate consumers successfully into their community is to help them develop daily living skills. The PACT model uses daily living situations, such as learning to cook on their own stoves and grocery shop in their local supermarkets, to enhance coping skills and encourage independent decision-making. The majority of staff contact occurs in consumers' homes, in restaurants, in laundromats or anywhere they go to live independently in their community.

We serve as advocates for consumers. We work closely with social security, public housing, health care clinics and other public service programs to assure that consumers have all the possible benefits necessary to survive in the community.

Our aim is for successful integration of consumers into their communities. In an effort to achieve complete integration, we encourage the lessening of and ultimately the elimination of their dependence on mental health care services. Should treatment be terminated, consumers have the opportunity to quickly enter again if crisis occurs or the need for improved functioning arises.

Each multidisciplinary PACT team consists of psychiatrists, registered nurses, clinicians, vocational and MICA services. With these highly skilled professionals working together in teams, we are able to cover consumers' broad range of needs effectively and efficiently.