Effect of psychoeducation program on self-efficacy of schizophrenic patients utilizing psychiatric day care : a preliminary study

Objectives: The objective of this study was to incorporate social skills training into psychoeducation and to assess its feasibility and effectiveness in increasing self-efficacy. Methods: The subjects were 33 schizophrenic patients utilizing psychiatric day care who met the eligibility criteria and gave their written consent to participate. The Generalized Self-efficacy Scale (SE scale) was used for conduct evaluations on three occasions: 1 month before the intervention, immediately before the intervention, and immediately after completion of the intervention. Results: There were no major problems during the conduct of the program. The SE scale score changed significantly between immediately before the intervention and immediately after completion of the intervention, and a long hospital stay was shown to be related to increased self-efficacy. Conclusions: This program is capable of being conducted with schizophrenic patients as subjects, and it was concluded to be effective in increasing their self-efficacy. The results suggested that patients who lived in the community after a long hospital stay had a stronger will to obtain knowledge about living, which had been impossible to acquire because of their long hospitalization.