The relevance of patient centeredness to mental health care may be especially critical in fostering a therapeutic alliance. As noted by several investigators, patient centeredness and therapeutic alliance share conceptual ground. As reported by Wissow and colleagues, there is a significant and positive relationship between the positive relationship between the RIAS- based patient – centeredness measure and therapeutic alliance as measured by the Vanderbilt Therapeutic Alliance Scale. This suggests that the activation intervention not only enhanced communication generally but may have created a milieu that fostered a strong affective bond and agreement on goals and processes of treatment.
The study’s significant limitations included its small sample and limited generalizability. Fewer than one third of clinicians at the study sites participated by referring at least one patient, a finding that suggests there was a sizable self –selection bias. Consequently the results were likely to represent clinicians a patients who were most interested in communication and patient activation. As in all observational studies, the presence of a device to record conversation may have influenced communication by inspiring best or most conscientious practice. It is unlikely, however, that best practice was systematically interpreted by therapists in a way that would jeopardize the validity of findings. The issue of performance bias in response to tap recording has been addressed by several studies. All have found that the effect is minimal.
Patients were the unit of randomization, and so providers conducted visits with patients in both the intervention and the control groups, and no attempt was made to blind clinicians to the patient’ s group. Despite the advantages and strength of this design, it is possible that some providers may have diminished group differences through a form of compensatory communication with control group patients. For instance, providers may have attempted to elicit greater engagement in the dialogue by asking these patients more question than they asked intervention patients.