The recent publication of results from a large National Institute of Mental Health-funded research study prompted Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) to include the comprehensive model of care accredited for use by Methodist Family Health, the Teaching-Family Model (TFM), as a promising evidence-based practice.
As of Dec. 5, 2016, NREPP, a highly selective registry of evidence-based practices in mental health services, officially recognizes the Teaching-Family Model as a promising evidence-based practice for the treatment of “Non-specific Mental Health Disorders and Symptoms.”
The study published in the Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders found the Teaching-Family Model to “produce significantly better outcomes” for youth post-discharge. “Short-term gains are relatively common, but for developing youth, shifts in long-term trajectories form the springboard for improved development, socialization, functioning and flourishing,” write the study authors.
Teaching-Family Model programs at Methodist Family Health provide that springboard for mental health care for children and youth ages 5-18 and their families.
The Teaching-Family Model has been recognized as a promising evidence-based practice since 2008 by the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), a similar and oft-cited registry of evidence-based programs. The American Psychological Association has recognized the Model as an evidence-based practice since 2003, prior to the creation of NREPP or CEBC.
The American Psychological Association's profile of the Teaching-Family Model suggests that the Model has “given hope” that children and youth “with even the most difficult problems or behaviors can improve the quality of their lives and make contributions to society.”
“The Teaching-Family Model provides comprehensive care as a program model for children, youth and families focused on building relationships and services that are client-centered, strengths-based, trauma-informed and outcome-driven,” reads a release from the Teaching-Family Association, an international community of care providers using the Model in a wide range of contexts.
The Teaching-Family Model has been adapted to use in many different service deliveries and for many different populations, from children in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems to at-risk youth and families and even adults with developmental disabilities. Methodist Family Health uses the Teaching-Family Model in psychiatric and behavioral health care.
“The Teaching-Family Model allows for such a positive, nonjudgemental means to address behavior, capitalizing on the individual’s strengths and then teaching more appropriate behaviors for success,” says Methodist Family Health CEO and president Andy Altom. “The model is used throughout our Continuum of Care and the results have been impressive.”