Am J Psychiatry 1977; 134:1082-1086
Copyright © 1977 by American Psychiatric Association
Outpatient treatment of schizophrenia
N Hansell and GL Willis
The authors discuss the treatment of 575 schizophrenic patients over the
past 15 years. They describe a shift the patients have experiences from
reliance on inpatient treatment to heavy use of outpatient services. The
have found that effective outpatient treatment for these patients involves
a program of nearly continuous administration of neuroleptic medication
combined with counseling and social and crisis services. A major component
of the outpatient management of these schizophrenic patients is the
education of the patients in how to regulate their own medication within a
prescribed range. This educational component appears to add a measure of
precision that enhances the safety and reliability of the treatment
program.
