Relapse prevention in serious and enduring mental illness: a pilot study.

Area of Science:

• Mental Health Research
• Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Relapse in mental illness incurs significant societal costs.
• Community-based relapse prevention (RP) programs aim to mitigate relapse by enhancing coping skills.
• Effective RP strategies are crucial for improving long-term service user outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of an 8-week community-based relapse prevention (RP) program.
• To determine if RP enhances coping knowledge and relapse outcomes at 12 months post-intervention.
• To assess the long-term impact of RP on mental illness relapse.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental design with control was employed.
• Participants were recruited from a London day hospital, with an experimental group (n=10) and a control group (n=10).
• The experimental group received an 8-week RP program, while the control group received routine care, with follow-ups at 1, 2, and 12 months.

Main Results:

• The 52-week follow-up rate was 80% for the experimental group and 70% for the control group.
• No significant differences in relapse outcomes were observed between the groups at 52 weeks.
• The experimental group showed significant improvement in coping knowledge from baseline to 52 weeks, primarily within the first 12 weeks.

Conclusions:

• An 8-week community-based relapse prevention program effectively improved coping knowledge.
• The RP program did not demonstrate a significant impact on reducing relapse outcomes at 52 weeks.
• A randomized controlled trial is recommended to validate these findings and explore the efficacy of RP programs further.