SCHIZOPHRENIA - TREATMENT OUTCOMES RESEARCH - EDITORS INTRODUCTION

Considerable research over the past few decades on the nature and trea tment of schizophrenia has yielded important advances to improve the o utcomes of this disorder. Recent action plans, including the ''Decade of the Brain,'' the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) A Natio nal Plan for Schizophrenia Research, and NIMH's report, Caring for Peo ple With Severe Mental Disorders: A National Plan of Research to Impro ve Services, promise major new advances over the next several years. A s research advances, it is critical to ensure that patients in everyda y practice receive the most effective treatments being developed. This issue of the Schizophrenia Bulletin reviews the research, on outcomes of treatments for schizophrenia and lays out an agenda for available research knowledge to be translated into practice and for future resea rch to improve outcomes.