Abstract

BALLESTEROS, Francisco  and  BERTINA, Antonio. Effectiveness of the Community Social Support Group intervention on the psychosocial functioning of people with severe mental disorder. Rev. Asoc. Esp. Neuropsiq. [online]. 2016, vol.36, n.130, pp.299-323. ISSN 2340-2733.

Among public resources devoted to mental health, we find Community Social Support Groups (EASC). These teams are composed of psychologists, monitors and social workers that perform their interventions at home and in the close environment of people with severe mental disorder in order to improve their quality of life, domestic autonomy and community integration. These persons have specific difficulties that are not manageable by traditional medical treatments and services. The aim of this work is to describe the profile of people who take part into EASC, and to study the effectiveness of EASC social-community interventions. 275 people were attended by eight EASC in the Community of Madrid managed by the enterprise Grupo 5. Within the sample, 60% were men with an average age of 45 years, mainly diagnosed of schizophrenia (76%) and with an average disability degree of 65 % or more (74%). The study is a multi-center, quasi-experimental one with a single sample and repeated measures PRE-POST evaluating a 3-year intervention and focusing on different variables (personal autonomy, management of symptoms, hospitalizations). The results showed several improvements such as a lower rate of symptoms, better social adjustment and a lower rate of hospital admissions, with a higher rate of voluntary ones among them. Considerable saving of hospital costs is estimated. These results support the effectiveness of EASC interventions and an increased user's satisfaction.

Keywords : Community Social Support Group; psychosocial rehabilitation; severe mental disorder; effectiveness; bed occupancy.

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