A descriptive study of the community adjustment of a group of Vancouver schizophrenics

A group of schizophrenics living in the community were followed for a two year period, using information collected from files at the community care teams they were attending. Information collected pertained to the subjects' current living situation, style of cohabitation, source of income, geographic mobility and use of clinical services. Social adjustment of the sample was measured by employment status and rehospitalization rate. The resulting description of the population indicated a group with a high degree of disability and dependency; rates of unemployment and rehospitalization were high. The study indicated that residential status and style of cohabitation remained fairly stable over the two year period, but that employment status worsened somewhat. The data delineated a sub-population of young schizophrenics who seemed to be more unstable than the older subjects; the younger group had a significantly higher rehospitalization rate, were more mobile, and were heavier consumers of psychiatric services. In looking for factors that were associated with differential community adjustment it was found that those rehospitalized in the follow-up period tended to be younger, unemployed, more recently in hospital, and more frequent visitors to the community care teams; those who were unemployed at the end of the follow-up period tended to "be male, unmarried, and possessing a poor work history. The description of the study population indicated that this group would require considerable ongoing treatment and support, and that some individuals might be more "at risk" than others. It was also suggested that some of the socio-demographic variables used in this study might be useful diagnostically.Arts, Faculty ofSocial Work, School ofGraduat