Evaluate your program's capability
to treat co-occurring disorders

Administrators and program leaders may want to evaluate their existing program's capability to provide integrated services for treating co-occurring disorders.

Whether your organization is an addiction treatment center or a mental health center, a significant portion of your clients will have co-occurring disorders.

These clients are not likely to respond to traditional, separately tracked mental health and addiction treatment services. Integrated treatment is the most effective approach. As an administrator or program leader, you may want to measure the ability of your existing program to offer integrated treatment services for co-occurring disorders.

Tools for evaluating your program

Providers may use the Dual Diagnosis Capability in Addiction Treatment (DDCAT) Index or the Dual Diagnosis Capability in Mental Health Treatment (DDCMHT) Index to objectively measure their programs. The DDCAT and DDCMHT and associated scoring manuals, along with information about how to find a professional trained to perform the evaluation, are available from the Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center. 

The DDCAT and DDCMHT establish benchmarks for providing evidence-based treatment services to people with co-occurring disorders. The indexes ask questions about seven dimensions within three primary areas of policy, clinical practice, and workforce.

The DDCAT or the DDCMHT will help you categorize your treatment program into one of four primary categories:

• Addiction Only Services (AOS)
• Mental Health Only Services (MHOS)
• Dual Diagnosis Capable (DDC)
• Dual Diagnosis Enhanced (DDE) 

Initiating change

Organizational change requires focus and patience. New policies, practices, and training are implemented and embraced over time, and the pace at which they are adopted varies, but the overall characteristics of program change remain the same. Seven steps in the process are key. Learn more