Cognitive rehabilitation of adults with severe and persistent mental illness: a group model

The authors report on a group treatment approach developed for adults with schizophrenia who live in a Community Mental Health Center supported group home. The goals of the group intervention included cognitive rehabilitation and the development of effective communication and social skills. A variety of outcome measures used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment revealed that the group modality promoted improved functioning in cognitive processing, social skills, and verbal communication. Although the results of the study can only be viewed as suggestive due to a small sample size and lack of a control group, the authors present a detailed group treatment format that can be utilized and further developed by people working with a severe and persistent mentally ill population.