Assessment Tools

 General Description of Assessment Instruments

The process of selecting and implementing Psychiatric Rehabilitation treatment is founded on three key clinical principles; a) the process is a collaborative effort between the consumer and clinician aimed at achieving the consumer's goals for more personally rewarding community functioning; b) the process is rooted in the empirical information provided by thoroughly validated assessment instruments; and c) the outcomes of the process are continually assessed so that the treatment’s services can be adjusted for maximum efficacy and effectiveness.

The assessment instruments offered by PRC are listed below, and each operates in accord with these three key principles. Each fosters collaboration by gathering information from the consumer and various treatment stakeholders; each is a thoroughly validated instrument designed specifically use with persons with serious and persistent mental illness; and each can be periodically administered to provide longitudinal information about the outcomes of ongoing treatment. Furthermore, when an instrument is administered to participants in a treatment program, the data can be aggregated across the participants to provide a measure of a program’s outcome.

The instruments may be combined to obtain the comprehensive information needed to plan individualized or programmatic treatments, or each can be administered independently to provide information needed to answer more focal questions. Each instrument is briefly described below; please click on the instrument’s name to obtain more information.

Expanded UCLA Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) The Expanded UCLA BPRS is a rigorous assessment of the severity of a consumer's psychiatric symptoms. The consumer’s responses to questions asked during a semi-structured interview are combined with the interviewer’s observations to rate the severity of 24 symptoms on a 7-point scale. The instrument can be administered as often as needed to provide a sensitive measure of changes in symptoms as various medical and rehabilitation treatments are added, modified, or deleted.

Client’s Assessment of Strengths, and Goals (CASIG) CASIG is designed to be the primary assessment instrument for planning and evaluating a consumer’s rehabilitation treatment. CASIG assess six key areas: the client’s goals for improved community functioning, his/her current functioning, medication practices (adherence and side effects), quality of life and treatment, symptoms, and unacceptable community behaviors. Data are gathered from the consumer (CASIG-Self Report; CASIG-SR) and knowledgeable informants (CASIG-Informant; CASIG-I). The results are used by the consumer-clinician partners to plan rehabilitation treatment, and the results of the ongoing administrations of CASIG provide the partners with a measure of the treatments’ effects. Furthermore, If CASIG is administered to participants in a treatment program, the aggregated results provide an evaluation of the program’s ongoing success.

Independent Living Skills Survey (ILSS) The ILSS is a detailed assessment of a consumer’s social and independent living skills. Data are gathered from the consumer (ILSS-Self Report; ILSS-SR) and knowledgeable informants (ILSS-Informant; ILSS-I), and the results can be used for planning and evaluating individualized and programmatic rehabilitation treatment.

Medley of Assessment Instruments This collection of assessment instruments developed by the UCLA Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program (Director: Robert P. Liberman MD) for specific applications have proven useful in diverse facilities and treatment programs. The instruments can be easily and accurately by all staff regardless of discipline or clinical background.

Reinforcement Surveys Understanding what “motivates” a consumer is a key step in designing effective rehabilitation treatment. Treatment may require a considerable investment of the client’s time and energy before its rewards and benefits are fully realized. This delay can be bridged by providing intermediate rewards at each step, raising the value of the rewards as more and more steps are successfully accomplished. Each of the four surveys included in this assortment gathers the information to identify possible rewards. One is an open-ended questionnaire; the others are closed-ended rating scales. Each includes a different set of possibly rewarding objects and activities.

Assessment of Interpersonal Problem-Solving Skills (AIPSS) The AIPSS is a role play test of the examinee's cognitive and behavioral skills to solve interpersonal problems. These are situations between two people in which one person hinders the other from obtaining a desired goal. The second person must determine the nature of the problem, decide on some appropriate solution, and then perform the solution the solution in a socially appropriate and effective manner.

Assessment Tool	Cat. No.	Price	Order
Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS)	AT01	$20.00
Client's Assessment of Strengths, Interests & Goals (CASIG)	AT02	$35.00
Medley of Assessment Instruments	AT03	$20.00
Independent Living Skills Survey (ILSS)	AT04	$20.00
Reinforcement Survey	AT05	$20.00
Assessment of Interpersonal Problem Solving Skills (AIPSS)	AT06	$175.00