Goal Attainment Scaling: Tracking Goal Achievement in Consumers with Serious Mental Illness

Goal attainment scaling (GAS) is described as a method for standardizing achievement of personalized recovery goals. Collaborative goal setting enhances hope and motivation and promotes recovery for consumers with serious mental illness (SMI). Many available outcome measures survey broad functioning domains (e.g., work, school) and not personalized recovery goals that match consumers' self-determined needs and preferences. GAS was utilized to measure goal progress in consumers with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder (N = 55) in a clinical trial of group psychosocial interventions. Goals included 10 steps with objective anchors, which were measured at three time points (baseline, midtreatment, and end of treatment). Hierarchical linear modeling evaluated change over time. The most common goal chosen by consumers was establishing or reestablishing relationships, followed by self-care, employment, leisure activities, housing, school, independent transportation, recovery from addictions, and money management. Results indicated a significant increase in mean goal attainment with scores increasing from 2.38 (SD = 1.69)—corresponding to “talks to support person about goal”—at baseline to 5.64 (SD = 2.31)—corresponding to “actively engages in goal activity/behavior at least once”—at end of treatment. This preliminary evidence suggests the GAS measure is sensitive to change in a clinical trial. GAS is a promising recovery-oriented therapeutic tool and functional outcome measure for consumers with SMI.