Intensive Outpatient Services

As some people become engaged in care, their clinical status and/ or the severity of their condition(s) require a higher level of care than can be provided in the one or two hours offered by conventional ambulatory services. When possible, it is preferable for these services to be offered through intensive outpatient care as an alternative to extracting people from their natural community settings.

There is a wide range of outpatient services with varying degrees of intensity, from cognitive-behavioral treatments offered in two to four hours per week (a low level of intensity) to assertive community treatment teams accessible to clients 24 hours per day seven days per week (high intensity). Other examples include contingency management in active treatment of addiction and skills training offered in psychiatric rehabilitation.   

Table of Common Characteristics