Social skills training in board and care homes for the long-term mentally ill.

Abstract

This article describes a study of the quantity and quality of social skills training in thirty proprietary board and care facilities for the long-term mentally ill in California. Virtually all operators reported providing skills training. However, the data suggest that few hours were devoted to skills training and that operators knew little about principles of rehabilitation. Since board and care and similar residential facilities are the principal source of rehabilitation for as many as 400,000 long-term mentally ill persons in the United States, the need is clear for policies and programs to stimulate rehabilitation services to persons residing in these facilities.

Psychosocial rehabilitation: Toward a definition.

“…PSR calls for professionals to teach not only vocational skills but also job search and job retention skills on an ongoing basis (Liberman et al, 1986). Although this principle is fundamental for PSR, as the word "rehabilitation" implies, in practice it is underemphasized in many small and large agencies claiming to utilize PSR (Taylor & Dowell, 1986; Tessler, Willis, & Gubman, claiming to utilize PSR (Taylor & Dowell, 1986;Tessler, Willis & Gubman, 1986).…”