Abstract
Six months after a comprehensive socialisation scheme began, a prospective controlled study was carried out. The patients were tested in three practical sections — Cooking; Maintenance of Home and Clothing; Other Skills (eg. form-filling); and with a Questionnaire. Forty-eight members of an experimental group received socialisation training after initial testing. They and the 20 controls who did not undergo training were re-evaluated three months later. There was no significant difference between the groups in their initial scores. On retesting, the experimental group showed a significant improvement in Cooking (p < 0.001), Home Maintenance (p < 0.001) and the Questionnaire (p < 0.05). Analysis of the inter-group differences showed significant superiority of the experimental group in Cooking (p < 0.05) and Home Maintenance (p < 0.05). It is suggested that such a socialisation scheme be considered for inclusion alongside other rehabilitation services in psychiatric hospitals. The emphasis on a high staff-to-patient ratio and the breakdown of each task into smaller steps emerged as essential elements in the training programme.
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