Maintaining health: proactive client-oriented community day treatment centres for the chronic mentally ill

This grounded theory study compared the definition of health by clients of two rural mental health day treatment centres, Big Sky Centre and Montana Centre. Based on an original grounded theory study of seven chronic mentally ill/disabled clients in Big Sky Centre (Yurkovich et al. 1997), the core variable, 'preventing loss of control' and related properties, were validated with nine residents of Montana Centre. While establishing a 'fit' with previous research findings, differences emerged between these two centres. These differences related to the staffs' philosophical approaches in providing treatment to the chronic mentally ill. Big Sky Centre care providers empowered their clients to learn new behaviours from their peers and assume new roles such as newcomer, member and leader. They also encouraged a prosocial attitude, and created a sense of belonging through valued involvement in their treatment. Montana Centre clients were not empowered to try out new behaviours in the treatment environment, or seek social support networks among their peers at the centre, which would foster a sense of belonging. The result was that clients from Montana Centre relied on the formal healthcare system more often than clients from the Big Sky Centre. The competing forces in healthcare today--family members, mental health providers, and insurance or managed care providers--make it easy to lose sight of or fail to gain the client's perspective about their health status and maintenance, particularly as it concerns day treatment centres. The importance of the day treatment centre as a therapeutic community which requires educational processes, innovative nursing practice, and client-centred interventions will be discussed.