Care provision and community adjustment of rural consumers with serious mental illness

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors of successful commu nity living in a sample of rural individuals with severe and persistent men tal illness (N = 40). Multimeasure/multisource indicators of consumer statu s, care provider attitudes, and care provider support provision were employ ed to predict community adjustment as measured by satisfaction with quality of life. Separate semistructured interviews were conducted with consumers, their case manager, and a family member or adult home provider. Reliabilit y of the measures was established within acceptable limits. The multiple re gression analyses showed that life stress and informal care-provider attitu des satisfied the inclusion criteria. R-2 was .61 (F[2, 37] = 29.10, p < .0 01). Quality-of-life satisfaction was predicted primarily by consumer statu s characteristics. Copyright (C) 1999 by W.B. Saunders Company.