TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - Occupation-focused intervention for in-patient mental health settings: pilot study of effectiveness
JO  - Journal of psychiatric research
A1  - Lipskaya-Velikovsky, Lena
A1  - Krupa, Terry
A1  - Silvan-Kosovich, Ilana
A1  - Kotler, Moshe
SP  - 45
EP  - 51
VL  - 125
IS  - 
N2  - PURPOSE: Participation in meaningful occupation is associated with recovery in serious mental illnesses, however, few evidence-based, occupation-focused interventions for hospital settings exist. This study investigated the effectiveness of "Occupational Connections" (OC), a manualized, short-term, group intervention, addressing issues in daily-life occupations' participation and functioning of people with serious mental illness as early as during hospitalization. <br><br>METHODS: Thirty-three inpatients with schizophrenia completed single-blind, pre-post study procedures (up to 10 weeks) in two groups: OC group intervention and open leisure activity group (control condition), in addition to treatment as usual. They were assessed for occupation and participation dimensions, perceptions of services as recovery-oriented, comprehensive cognitive functioning and schizophrenia symptoms. The sampling was convenience with sequential group allocation. <br><br>RESULTS: Improvements were found in the study group in the following measurements: intention to participate in daily activities (t(15) = -2.62, p < .05), participation diversity (t(15) = -2.11, p < .05), experience the recovery orientation of the service (t(15) = -3.15, p < .01), functional capacity (t(15) = -3.44, p < .01), cognitive abilities of language understanding, memory and shifting (-4.5<t(15)<3.3, p < .05), and schizophrenia symptoms (positive, negative and general: 8.47<t(15)<9.12, p < .01). The control group has improved on attention (t(16) = -2.89, p < .05), visual-motor organization (t(16) = 2.14, p < .05) and schizophrenia symptoms (4.4<t(16)<6.6, p < .01) only. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The study provides initial evidence for the effectiveness of OC. The results suggest that interventions with a focus on personal, meaningful daily life occupations such as the OC, may be a useful tool contributing to a positive experience of the in-patient staying and successful community reintegration after acute psychiatric hospitalization.<br><br>Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0022-3956
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.03.004
ID  - ref1
ER  -