In defense of "restrictiveness": A critical concept in consumer-oriented treatment planning.

Abstract

I f consumers o f mental health services are to make informed deci sions about their own treatment, a structured approach to this complex decision-making task is essential A three-step approach, analogous to costbenefit analysis, is introduced to guide practitioners in actively engaging consumers in the treatment planning process. Separate estimates o f treat ment efficacy and restrictiveness lay the groundwork for the selection among treatment alternatives. Analysis o f restrictiveness into four compo nents-autonomy, interaction with "normals, " stigma, and duration-fur ther facilitates this task.

Coercion in the community: Issues for mature treatment systems

“…There is also the problem of agreeing about what is a more or less severe restriction. For example, some clients may regard forced medication as more restrictive than prolonged hospitalization (Byalin, 1993;Gardner and others, 1993;Hoffman and Foust, 1977).…”