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Factors related to integrating persons with chronic mental illness into a peer social milieu

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Abstract

Client characteristics and their perceptions of the milieu in a psychosocial rehabilitation program were used to predict the clients' level of involvement in the peer-based social network. 81 clients in a psychosocial rehabilitation program participated in the study. The results indicated that client perceptions of higher support and clarity in the staff-client milieu, and being female, were strongly related to higher peer social involvement. Milieu factors were generally more important than client characteristics in predicting client social functioning. The implications of these findings for psychosocial intervention and for research on the social functioning of this population are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Village Integrated Service Agency, 456 Elm Avenue, 90802, Long Beach, CA

    Shelley Levin MSW (Evaluation Coordinator)

  2. School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 90089-0411, Los Angeles, CA

    Shelley Levin MSW (Evaluation Coordinator) & John S. Brekke Ph.D. (Associate Professor)

Authors
  1. Shelley Levin MSW
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  2. John S. Brekke Ph.D.
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Additional information

This research was supported in part by a grant from the Zellerbach Family Fund, and by grant #MH43640 from the Schizophrenia Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, awarded to the second author.

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Levin, S., Brekke, J.S. Factors related to integrating persons with chronic mental illness into a peer social milieu. Community Ment Health J 29, 25–34 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00760628

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