Effects of Increased Therapist Commitment on Emergency Psychiatric Evaluations
ALFRED E. WEISZ M.D.1,
PETER S. HOUTS PH.D.2, , and
DONALD C. STRAIGHT M.S.W.3
1 Assistant professor of psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif. 94305
2 Assistant professor of behavioral science, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, University Park, Pa.
3 Lecturer and clinical social worker, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, Calif.
The authors conducted a study on 199 emergency walk-in patients, 98 of whom were given a one-month follow-up interview and free medication samples by first-year resident. This manipulation increased the therapists' optimism about prognosis, the number of interviews beyond the emergency evaluation, and the likelihood that the resident who first saw the patient on the emergency service would invite the patient into treatment.
