Jacqueline Kinley Hamilton
Stenberg College
In this essay, I will present a case study of a man staying at an emergency shelter with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. A brief overview of the basic concepts of psychosocial rehabilitation, or PsyR as referred to throughout the essay, will be given. Following will be an application of PsyR concepts as specific and central to the assessment of the case study presented. A recovery plan will be presented that will address goals developed in relation to what environment and roles does the person want to operate in, and what resources and specific objectives are …show more content…
Families “can provide a circle of care that both protects the individual with mental illness and supports his/her independence” but "families need strategies and solutions to help them in their efforts to care for a member with mental illness” (Austin & Boyd, 2010, p. 292). Schizophrenic disorders are “long term and characterized by episodes of acute illness followed by periods of residual symptoms and remission (and) in the acute phases of these disorders and occasionally at other times, the resulting symptoms have serious behavioral manifestations” which can “contribute to further harm in already vulnerable individuals” (Pratt, Gill, Barrett & Roberts, date, p. 64). This will be evidenced as an important factor in the following case study. Research on long-term course of schizophrenia is generally positive and hopeful but psychosocial treatment is important in this (Pratt, Gill, Barrett & Roberts, date, p. 93). Psychosocial interventions, particularly family psychoeducation, will become an important PsyR approach in this case study. Family psychoeducation is one of six identified PsyR evidence-based practices shown to have positive impact on quality of life, community involvement, symptom improvement, contact with hospitals and relapses for individuals with psychiatric illnesses (Pratt, Gill, Barrett & Roberts, date, p. 24). Also, families can provide settings for “context-dependent learning important for recovery function” (Rossler, 2006, p. 153). In this essay, this becomes important particularly with reference to a recovery-oriented approach which is meant to support personal definitions of recovery (Boutillier, Leamy, Bird, Davidson, Williams & Slade, 2011, p. 1475). Given the above considerations, the PsyR clinical application following, is informed by