EFFECTIVENESS OF COGNITIVE REHABILITATION FOR IMPROVING ATTENTION IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Many patients with chronic schizophrenia who are treated in traditiona l occupational therapy programs demonstrate lower level deficits invol ving cognition and, more specifically, attention. This study examines the applicability of the cognitive rehabilitation treatment modality t o patients with schizophrenia as compared with the traditional one-to- one task-oriented approach. Results indicated no significant differenc e between the two treatment methods. Overall, the subjects from both g roups did show improvement in scores on the shell sort task of the Bay Area Functional Performance Evaluation (BaFPE) Scores for self-confid ence, motivation, and efficiency improved for the subjects in both gro ups in at least four of the five task scores of the BaFPE. Significant improvements also were noted in five psychological tests of attention and memory for both groups. This study supported the importance of hi erarchically arranged crafts and cognitive rehabilitation in an enviro nment with reduced sensory input. Treatments that were structured, con crete, and visual were most effective.