PRIDE Institute's Beck Inventory Scores Mark Patient, Program Success

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - (April 20, 2010) - Based on a 13-month survey of patients using the Beck Inventory tests, PRIDE Institute has seen improvements in the levels of anxiety and depression among participants in its behavioral health programming.

PRIDE, the nation's first and longest-running chemical dependency treatment facility exclusively for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) communities, administers the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) during both the admission process and just prior to patient discharge. These self-administered, 21-question surveys allow the patients to report their feelings for the past week according to a scale of ranging intensity. Based on point values assigned to each multiple-choice response, the patient's score is tallied and compared to a standardized scale to determine his or her level of anxiety or depression.

By comparing patient's responses from admittance to discharge, PRIDE determined evidence of improvement among patients who participated in its mental health, sexual health and chemical dependency programs. While PRIDE acknowledges that the Beck Inventories are self-administered by the patient and room for error exists as a result of a patient exaggerating or minimizing feelings, these tests are still widely accepted among professionals in the mental health field as a way to objectively gauge patient improvement and program success.

In the 13 months that PRIDE has been tracking the results of these tests, patients demonstrated on average improvements through lower levels of depression and anxiety 86.4 and 87.8 percent of the time, respectively. By weighing the data of participants in various programs to one another, PRIDE learned that its new sexual health program offers promising results, although the level of improvement between program participants and nonparticipants was not statistically significant. Additionally, the results of these tests give PRIDE greater insight into which areas of the program need improvement in order to better serve future patients while still revealing that participants and nonparticipants, alike, are achieving success while at PRIDE.

"The Beck Inventories are trusted among our colleagues as a legitimate way to track patient success in the treatment of anxiety and depression, and we are happy to report that the patients at PRIDE are showing better scores," said Amanda Richards, MA, LPC, LADC, BC-MT, director of clinical services at PRIDE Institute. "The overall goal at PRIDE is to help our patients lead a more stable life, and through the Beck Inventories, we are learning which areas of our programs excel and which need improvement. Our patients' scores show an overall improvement among patients in our chemical dependency and mental and sexual health programs, but through evaluations like Beck, we learn more and more about ourselves and our patients every day."

About PRIDE Institute
Founded in 1986, the PRIDE Institute is the nation's first and leading provider of inpatient and outpatient programs devoted exclusively to treating the mental health and chemical dependency needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) communities by placing them in a setting exclusively for members of the LGBTQ community. The freestanding 42-bed facility has graduated more than 10,000 LGBTQ members through its healthy alternative to traditional mental health and chemical dependency treatment programs, focusing on the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction, sexual compulsivity, depression, anxiety and HIV/AIDS-related stress and grief. For more information, please visit www.pridemediapsi.com

Jennifer June
(o) 615-780-3316
(c) 615-419-8000
jennifer.june@dvl.com

Kristin Hampel
(o) 615-780-3365
(c) 615-275-7926
kristin.hampel@dvl.com

209 7th Ave. N.
Nashville, TN 37219

This release was published on openPR.