204 Chapter 7 alone. Therefore, we advocate a wider implementation of the informal social network intervention in forensic psychiatric care. In addition, we showed that implementation of the informal intervention in usual care was possible in a research setting. Moreover, after completion of our research, the commitment of stakeholders (i.e., formal and informal care) continued. To this day, patients are being referred to informal care by professionals of a forensic outpatient care department in Amsterdam and approximately one patient is monthly matched to a volunteer coach. This indicates that a sustainable implementation in clinical practice can be accomplished. Third, for implementation to succeed, again, we do suggest tailoring the additive informal social network intervention to patients’ social network needs, taking into account patient-level barriers to treatment compliance that were mentioned by both patients and volunteer coaches, such as their willingness or readiness, abilities, attitudes, and other healthcare needs, goals, and priorities (chapter 4). Furthermore, it is recommended to continuously assess and monitor social network needs and aforementioned patient-level barriers throughout treatment, as they are found to fluctuate over time (Priebe et al., 2020). Naturally, these barriers cannot be completely avoided in clinical practice. Therefore, we cautiously recommend that informal social network interventions be implemented over a long period of time (i.e., at least 12 months), during which volunteers and patients have sufficient time to develop a supportive relationship. Furthermore, as advocated in previous research, a flexible approach is recommended to account for a potentially turbulent course of intervention trajectories, which can be expected in forensic patients based on the current research (Burn et al., 2020; Priebe et al., 2020). Policy In general, this dissertation strongly encourages policy makers in mental healthcare to incorporate social network interventions in clinical guidelines for the treatment of patients with complex and chronic psychiatric problems. Simultaneously, we advocate investing in high-quality research, which should be embedded in clinical practice, to further develop and determine the best approach for individual patients. Regarding mental healthcare policy for forensic psychiatric outpatients, we recommend facilitating collaborations between formal care and informal care – a collaboration paradigm, as we demonstrated that informal social network interventions can (1) be implemented and (2) have the potential to enhance treatment outcomes in forensic outpatients. In order to successfully implement the informal social network intervention in clinical practice, it is deemed important to appoint ambassadors or coordinators in both
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