52 Chapter 3 In clinical practice, chronic care is mostly not organised by diagnosis, but by type of care needed. That is why research in patients with SMI who are treated long-term in a multidisciplinary team is more applicable than investigating only people with for instance schizophrenia. It is important to know which symptom domains particularly influence personal recovery and vice versa, because this could inform professionals about their focus in treatment and recovery-oriented practices. The aim of the current study is to examine the correlation between the severity of clinical symptom domains and personal recovery in patients with SMI. Besides that, the predictive value of the symptom domains on personal recovery is investigated, taken into account potential confounders, such as age, gender and diagnosis. Based on findings in patients with schizophrenia, we expect to find a stronger association between affective symptoms and personal recovery than between psychotic symptoms and personal recovery. Also a larger predictive value of affective symptoms on personal recovery is expected. METHODS Participants and procedure Patients were recruited from five Flexible Assertive Community Treatment teams (F-ACT) of Mentrum, part of Arkin Institute for Mental Health, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. F-ACT is a Dutch version of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), aimed exclusively at SMI patients (24). F-ACT teams are multidisciplinary and offer two levels of care: individual case management, and ACT when there is a need for shared caseload and assertive outreach. In short, the F of F-ACT stands for a team that is flexible to temporarily intensify treatment to ACT if this is needed. Our study took place between September 2015 and September 2016. Patients were recruited by posters and flyers in the waiting room. Moreover, all mental health workers were requested to ask their patients if they would participate in this research project. All patients in the F-ACT teams meet the criteria of having a SMI (see the introduction for criteria). Patients were 18 years or older, were able to understand the Dutch language and to provide informed consent. Approval for the study was obtained from the Medical Ethics Review Committee of VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam. A trained researcher obtained informed consent and administered clinical interviews and questionnaires. In addition to self-reported information of the patient, a member of the F-ACT team (usually a psychiatric nurse) was asked to complete additional questions.
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