The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is expanding its behavioral health care standards to support organizations that have, or are in the process of, adopting a recovery-oriented philosophy and approach to care, treatment, and services. Effective January 1, 2006, these requirements are individual and family driven and geared to give real and meaningful choices about treatment options. Care must focus on increasing the person's ability to successfully cope with life's challenges, facilitating recovery, and building resilience - not just on managing symptoms.
The standards come from feedback from JCAHO-accredited organizations, along with goals set out in the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health's final report released in 2003. The report calls for transforming the mental health service delivery system in the United States by focusing on providing meaningful, consumer- and family-centered services, instead of the requirements of bureaucracies. It also focuses on helping consumers learn to successfully cope with life challenges by facilitating recovery and resilience rather than just managing symptoms.
The standards only apply to behavioral health care organizations that offer any of the following services:
- Case management/care coordination
- Community integration
- Employment services
- Family support
- Peer support
- Vocational rehabilitation services
The standards were approved in May after extensive review by behavioral health care experts and behavioral health care organizations. They will be published in the 2006/07 Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Behavioral Health Care Organizations (CAMBHC), available in the fall of 2005. Although the definition and principles of recovery in mental health are still evolving, the Joint Commission determined that it would be timely to develop requirements to support the behavioral health care field as it transitions to this new model of care, treatment, and services. This approach also augments existing Joint Commission standards.
For more information contact:
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
One Renaissance Boulevard
Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois 60181
630-792-5790
www.jcaho.org
