Effectiveness of an Intervention Tailored for Day Centers for People With Psychiatric Disabilities

This RCT study addresses the topic of improving the possibilities for people with severe mental illness (SMI) to be engaged in meaningful daily occupations at community-based activity (CBA) centers. Meaningful occupation, which includes not only work-related activities, but also leisure, household and social activities, is assumed to generate health and wellbeing. It is well established that there is a relationship between satisfaction with daily occupations and well-being.

A Swedish mental health care reform stated that the social services should provide meaningful daily occupations to people with SMI. However, evaluations of the effects of the reform conclude that the target group's needs for meaningful daily occupation have not been met.

Thus, on the basis of governmental reports and evaluations, there is an urgent need for improving the quality of the activities and support offered at CBA centers. Therefore, the overarching aim of this project is to develop and implement an intervention method for improving the activities offered and support given at CBA centers, and evaluate the outcomes of that intervention.

Specific aims

• Developing and implementing an intervention that means reorganization of CBA centers in such a way that they become enriched with characteristics that have been identified as rewarding and meaningful in previous research.

• Evaluating the outcome of that intervention on:

• the unit level, i.e., in terms of changes in the characteristics of the CBA centers,

• the individual level, in terms of changes among the consumers regarding satisfaction with the activities at the CBA center, perceived control, social interaction, quality of life, etc.

Cluster randomization is used. Day centers are randomized to either giving the new intervention ("enrichment") or continuing with "care as usual" during the study period, which is 14 months. This means that all participants in a day center get the type care their specific day center offers during the study period.