Treatment by lay health workers is more effective than standard facility-based care at reducing disability and psychotic symptoms in people with schizophrenia diagnoses, according to research published yesterday in The Lancet. Findings from the first randomized trial to test community-based care against standard care in a low-income country “show even more positive outcomes than similar trials of collaborative community-based care in high-income countries.”
Chatterjee, S., Naik, S., John, S., Dabholkar, H., et al.; Effectiveness of a community-based intervention for people with schizophrenia and their caregivers in India (COPSI): a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet. Online March 5, 2014. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62629-X
Of further interest:
Community-based schizophrenia treatment in low income countries better than facility care (The Journal)
Milestone study shows benefits of community-based treatment of schizophrenia (Medical Xpress)
Weird that they say community based care should be emphasized in areas where other services are less available – it sounds like they should be emphasized everywhere!
— Steve
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