Outcome study of disability management for persons with schizophrenia living in the community

Abstract

Introduction: Schizophrenia is a major mental illness affecting the normal functioning of the brain that has a measurable impact on many aspects of the life of those who are affected by it. Among many areas of impairment, severe deficits in functioning are observed in daily living, family life, social interactions and employment. The aim of the study was to examine the outcome of a brief intervention package (on disability management) for the persons with Schizophrenia living in the community. Methodology: Criteria based sampling technique was employed to derive a sample of 31 participants who attended OPD of the Institute of Psychiatry, Kolkata. This was an outcome study, pre and post experimental design without a control group. Participants were initially assessed with Indian Disability Evaluation Assessment Scale and Social Occupational Functioning Scale, after which, a structured intervention was conducted. Soon after the intervention post assessment was done in the same parameters. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 16. Result: It was found that persons with Schizophrenia has a significant impairment in the socio-occupational functioning area and has a moderate percentage of disability before the intervention. After the psychosocial management, significant improvement has been noticed in socio-occupational functioning and the level of disability also decreased. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated the feasibility and efficiency of a psychosocial intervention package on the management of impairment and disabilities for persons with Schizophrenia which helped them to improve impairment and disable.

Keywords: Psychosocial management, disability, socio-occupational functioning, schizophrenia