Efficacy of psychosocial rehabilitation program: The RFS experience

BACKGROUND: People with severe and persistent mental illness need help in most aspects of their lives, as the disability associated with these diseases can be debilitating. Psychosocial rehabilitation interventions aim to help them relearn skills that would reduce disabilities so that they can be reintegrated into society. OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy of the rehabilitation program at the Richmond Fellowship Society (RFS) ‘ASHA’ half-way home. SUBJECTS: Fifty-four clients diagnosed with either schizophrenia or affective disorder who stayed at the half-way home for more than 6 months. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective evaluative approach was followed. An evaluation checklist was developed for the purpose and this was used to assess the level of functioning of the clients. A paired sample t-test was used to score changes in client progress between admission and discharge. RESULTS: Significant improvement ( P≤.05 level) was noticed on all the parameters from baseline to discharge. CONCLUSSION: The psychosocial rehabilitation program at the RFS half-way home has a beneficial effect.