The foundations of the working alliance in assertive community treatment teams

BACKGROUND: In this study, we aimed to identify and define the fundamental components of the working alliance in multidisciplinary (Flexible) Assertive Community Treatment teams with shared caseloads, in order to support their daily practice and further research. METHODS: After reviewing the literature, concept mapping with professionals and clients was used to define the working alliance in (F) ACT teams. The resulting concept maps formed the basis for the working alliance assessment instrument, which was pilot tested with professionals and clients through cognitive interviews with a think-aloud procedure. RESULTS: The study led to the development of a twenty five-item assessment instrument to evaluate working alliances in multidisciplinary teams (WAM) that was comprised of three subscales: bond, task/goal and team. Two different versions were developed for clients and professionals. CONCLUSIONS: The WAM instrument was developed to determine the quality of the working alliance in (F) ACT teams. Future research will focus on testing its psychometric properties and predictive value. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-021-03563-x.