Techniques for improving attentiveness and treatment engagement among 'treatment refractory' schizophrenia patients with severe cognitive impairment.

While many effective group-based psychiatric rehabilitation interventions now exist, many severely disabled patients are unable to benefit from them due to a reduced ability to pay attention in group sessions. Moreover, inattentiveness can be due to one or more of multiple factors, including a susta...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Sante Mentale au Quebec Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 65 - 89
Autores principales: Silverstein SM, Hatashita-Wong M, Wilkniss S, Lapasset JA, Solak B, Uhlhaas P, Landa Y, Starobin H
Formato: tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Revue Sante Mentale au Quebec automne2004
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:While many effective group-based psychiatric rehabilitation interventions now exist, many severely disabled patients are unable to benefit from them due to a reduced ability to pay attention in group sessions. Moreover, inattentiveness can be due to one or more of multiple factors, including a sustained attention deficit, poor motivation, sedating side effects of medication, and the interfering effects of hallucinations and disturbing thoughts. Existing cognitive rehabilitation interventions for schizophrenia typically do not address these factors, instead targeting higher level functions such as memory, learning, problem-solving, and executive functioning. In this paper, we describe techniques for promoting attentiveness and treatment engagement among severely disabled 'treatment-refractory' patients. This includes both individual and group-based interventions.