Effects of Coordinated Support Services through Primary Caregivers in Improving the Functionality of Persons with Schizophrenia

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia is a disabling disorder affecting social and occupational functioning and daily living skills. Aim: To develop caregivers as co-therapist for support services to enhance functionality of people with schizophrenia. Methods: People with schizophrenia attending outpatient services were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The validated intervention programme was provided to the caregivers of the participants in the experimental group. Both the groups were assessed for functionality at base line and post intervention period of six months. Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Clinical Global Impression (CGI), Social Occupational Functioning Scale (SOFS) were used for assessment. Result: After 6 months of intervention, only experimental group showed a trend towards improvement in the BPRS score, even though RMANOVA shown a statistically insignificant finding (F df=1,66 =3.39; p= 0.07). However, a significant improvement was observed in the adaptive skills sub-score of socio occupational functioning (F 1,67 = 25.37; p<0.001)). In addition, a significant difference was observed for relative change in global illness severity on the CGI score (Mann Whitney U=243.00; p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study results suggest that involvement and training of caregivers is feasible and may help improve functionality in patients with schizophrenia.