An Evidence-Based Practice of Psychoeducation for Schizophrenia

Health care decisions can have life-altering consequences, so consumers must be as informed as possible. This is particularly true when it comes to developing treatment programs for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is often characterized by lack of insight, treatment nonadherence, and poor prognosis. However, research suggests that patients with schizophrenia benefit immensely from learning about their illness. The Cochrane analyses on psychoeducation for schizophrenia found that psychoeducational interventions significantly reduced relapse and readmission rates, enabled fewer hospital days, increased medication adherence, increased satisfaction with mental health services, and improved quality of life.1 According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) treatment guidelines, psychoeducational interventions should be part of the standard therapy for patients with schizophrenia.2 The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has identified family psychoeducation as an evidenced-based practice that should be implemented in psychiatric settings.3 And, the Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team recommends education for patients with schizophrenia and their families as well as psychosocial interventions that include psychoeducation for weight loss in overweight individuals with schizophrenia.4 Over the past decade, providers have increasingly focused less on the long-term disability associated with schizophrenia and more on recovery. In a recovery-oriented paradigm, there is an emphasis on patient involvement and a focus on facilitating a collaborative relationship by providing psychoeducation. Psychoeducation cultivates a shared decision-making approach that brings together the clinician’s expertise and the patient’s treatment preferences. Shared decision making fosters autonomy, which results in decisions that better serve the individual’s choices, values, and interests. “Shared decision making provides an approach through which providers and consumers of health care come together as collaborators in determining the course of care. Research has shown that shared decision making . . . increases consumers’ knowledge about and comfort with the health care decisions they make.”5