
Measuring Outcomes: Reducing harmful outcomes associated with treatments
Evaluation of harm from interventions need to be regularly and systematically assessed. Solutions would entail statistical evaluation of potential benefits and harm from treatment based upon routine reporting of the number of clients needed to be treated to attain clinically notable improvement (NNT) and the number of clients needed to be treated before one is harmed (NNH). Measurement-based care (MBC) and the systematic collection of patient-reported measures are also important for improvement of assessing possible harm. Overall, these routine assessments can help clinicians better determine when their treatment is becoming insufficient or aversive and modify their choice of interventions accordingly.
References: McKay, D., & Jensen-Doss, A. (2021). Harmful treatments in psychotherapy. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 28(1), 2–4. https://doi-org.ruby.uhv.edu/10.1037/cps0000023