RESUMO
1. Attendance at a 10-week class designed to teach behavioral management strategies to people with schizophrenia was effective in reducing some of the negative characteristics of auditory hallucinations for 12 months and in reducing anxiety for 9 months after completion of the class. 2. The sustained improvement experienced by class participants was characterized by their voices being less frequent and more mumbled and the participants feeling more in control, less distractible, and less anxious. 3. Participants recommended that other mental health consumers take similar classes to learn how to better manage their voices. 4. Monthly support groups may help participants maintain gains lost during the follow-up period.
Assuntos
Terapia Comportamental/métodos , Alucinações/prevenção & controle , Educação de Pacientes como Assunto/métodos , Psicoterapia de Grupo/métodos , Esquizofrenia/complicações , Autocuidado/métodos , Adaptação Psicológica , Adulto , Assistência Ambulatorial/métodos , Ansiedade/etiologia , Ansiedade/prevenção & controle , Atitude Frente a Saúde , Doença Crônica , Seguimentos , Alucinações/etiologia , Humanos , Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde , Recidiva , Psicologia do Esquizofrênico , Inquéritos e Questionários , Ensino/métodos , Resultado do TratamentoRESUMO
A survey was developed to determine whether the rapidly changing context of mental health care has significantly influenced how psychiatric nurses assess and intervene in issues related to medication adherence. A sample of 126 psychiatric nurses working in Veterans Affairs mental health treatment facilities in northern California, Hawaii, and Nevada identified the most effective methods for tracking medication adherence, as well as successful adherence interventions. Despite the challenge imposed by changing work environments, psychiatric nurses use creative and innovative approaches to improve their patients' medication adherence. Interventions for enhancing patient adherence with prescribed regimens are identified. Essential role dimensions related to medication adherence defined by the nurses in this survey included providing medication education, tracking patient adherence, assessing medication effectiveness, providing individualized, tailored adherence interventions, and collaborating with other health care providers in medication planning. Study findings support using nurses to their full potential and highlight nurses' need for more educational opportunities and consultation with experts (e.g., clinical pharmacists).
