Clinical Benefits of Paid Work Activity in Schizophrenia:

In a previous article in the Schizophrenia Bulletin (Vol. 22, No. 1,1996), we presented findings of a study on the clinical and rehabilitative effects of work activ-ity on 150 subjects diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a Pay ($3.40/hr) or No-Pay group and given 6-month work placements in a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center. At the 5-month fol-lowup, Pay subjects had worked more hours and earned more money (from any employment) than No-Pay subjects. Pay subjects also had significantly greater Improvement in symptoms and lower rehospi-talization rates. Clinical improvement was closely linked to amount of participation. We concluded tha