TRAINING HOSPITALIZED-PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA IN COMMUNITY REINTEGRATION SKILLS

Objective: The study examined the effectiveness of the Community Re-En try Program, a brief, time-limited skills training module designed to help acutely ill inpatients become engaged in community-based treatmen t programs. Methods: Of 84 consecutive admissions to a chronic psychot ic disorders unit, 44 completed assessments and attended the Community Re-Entry Program. The program consists of 16 daily small-group therap y sessions that engage the patient in efforts to define discharge read iness, identify symptoms and medication effects, and assist with disch arge planning. Skill levels and positive and negative symptoms were as sessed on admission and on completion of training, and a subsample of patients received two-week postdischarge follow-up assessments. Result s: From admission to discharge, positive symptoms diminished substanti ally negative symptoms diminished to a lesser but statistically signif icant degree, and skill levels increased significantly. Posttraining s kill level was predicted by pretraining skill level and level of parti cipation in the skills training module. Patients' symptom levels did n ot predict participation in the program or skill acquisition. Skill le vel at discharge was also more predictive of two-week postdischarge co mmunity adjustment than were symptom levels, Conclusions: Although fur ther controlled studies are required to Fully establish the efficacy o f the Community Re-Entry Program, these data suggest that brief, focus ed skills training may play an important role in augmenting optimal ph armacotherapy for hospitalized patients with chronic psychotic disorde rs.