89 Randomized controlled trial of a social network intervention 3 et al., 2013b). Therefore, this study will contribute to the existing knowledge about effective forensic interventions. Secondly, this RCT is embedded in clinical day-to-day practice resulting in high ecological study validity. Hence, it is possible to account for the specific needs of patients, professionals, managers, and policy makers. Thirdly, the research group has chosen to include a wide range of primary and secondary outcome variables. Multiple participant and intervention characteristics will be examined to provide insight regarding potential mediators and moderators of treatment effectiveness. Besides, many different types of instruments (i.e., electronic patient files, self-report instruments, reports from coaches and registrations from trained researchers and information sources) will be used to gather this information. Information about program integrity and dosage will be studied as a potential moderator of intervention effects. Moreover, qualitative and quantitative methods will be combined to study intervention effects. Lastly, the large amount of clinically relevant outcome measures will be administered during a long follow-up period of 18 months with multiple assessment points. Therefore, it will be possible to gather valuable information about changes in important life areas over a longer period of time. Given the beforementioned strengths, several pragmatic challenges are considered important. In our opinion, the first challenge of this study will be obtaining sufficient patients for inclusion in the study. Our study sample consists of complex and vulnerable patients with problems in multiple areas of life. Many of them have long mental healthcare histories and extensive criminal records. Former negative experiences with care or criminal justice services may have affected their attitude towards formal care and affiliated scientific research projects. Therefore, an additional social network intervention may not yet be indicated by care professionals during TAU or difficult to implement. Moreover, the majority of patients are obligated to participate in forensic treatment. Patient’s motivation for participation in a prolonged scientific research project and an additional intervention might therefore be low. Subsequently, the execution of a long follow-up period with multiple assessments in everyday clinical practice is expected to be challenging. In order to address these issues in inclusion and data collection, researchers will collaborate with mental healthcare professionals as much as possible considering the ethical and privacy guidelines. The researchers will participate in general team meetings. The team of researchers will be trained to keep an assertive, outreaching, and flexible attitude towards both professionals and patients. Current contact information of the patient and his/her social network members is gathered actively during all follow-up assessments. Patients receive an appropriate financial compensation to emphasize our appreciation for their contribution and time-investment. Besides, researchers will put effort in building and
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