Facilitators of psychosocial recovery from schizophrenia

Using a sample of 75 patients with schizophrenia enrolled in the Bern, Switzerland community psychiatry program, we aimed to identify factors that may facilitate recovery in schizophrenia. Factors facilitating recovery from schizophrenia were culled from the published literature as well as from our research on rehabilitation. Data on facilitators from 20 patients who had good rehabilitation outcomes and were identified as having recovered were contrasted with the same dimensions for the other 55 patients in our cohort. Case studies of four patients from our vocational rehabilitation program who fulfilled the criteria for recovery were used to identify facilitators that appeared to be relevant in their recovery process. At intake into our vocational rehabilitation program, the group of participants with good rehabilitation outcomes had significantly less negative symptoms, lower levels of disability and lower ratings on external locus of control. Compared to the majority of the other participants, the recovered patients had a more favourable profile in all five areas of facilitators of recovery. However, it was not possible to predict the extent or rapidity of recovery on the basis of patient characteristics at the start of their rehabilitation. Recovery was not a consistent pattern but rather appeared to be a process that varied in degree from person to person and also within each individual over time. Given the difficulty of predicting recovery, it is incumbent upon mental health professionals to extend the full spectrum of recovery-oriented services to all patients.