A study on the effectiveness of a psychosocial rehabilitation day centre for people with serious mental illnesses

Abstract

Psychosocial rehabilitation centers have been established as alternative services to mental health hospitals and outpatient units for the treatment of seriously mentally ill patients and constitute a vital component of an integrated mental health system. The present study investigates the effectiveness of the Families’ Association for Mental Health (SOPSI) psychosocial rehabilitation day center. Forty members of the day center (DC), primarily with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, participated in the current study. The purpose of this research was to study the impact of DC’s interventions on reducing readmissions, increasing quality of life and social adjustment and improving the overall functioning of its members. Participants were assigned into four groups based on their level of involvement with the DC’s therapeutic interventions. Participants who were more actively involved with the DC’s activities were expected to have better outcomes in these four domains than those who were less involved. Preliminary data over a 6-month period showed that members showed significant changed in their overall functioning but not on the quality of life and social adjustments outcome measures. Most of the participants weren’t hospitalized during the 6-months period of examination. Also, participants who were more actively involved with the program reported higher levels of quality of life compared to the ones who were less involved. The heterogeneity of the sample, the variety of needs served, the variations in the duration of treatment received, and the inadequacies of the scales employed were some of the problems encountered in the evaluation of the DC program. Results from the present pilot study, although limited, offer a preliminary perspective on the characteristics of the Greek seriously mentally ill population participating in a psychosocial rehabilitation day center, and the effectiveness of the DC program. Guided by the shortcomings and the problems identified in the present study a multidimensional outcome study is proposed for future evaluations.