Abstract:
The promoting of self-care ability for patients with schizophrenia is an important
method to enhance their self-care behaviors. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to
examine the effect of group supportive psychotherapy on self-care behaviors among schizophrenia
patients. The sample included twenty schizophrenic patients who receive service at the outpatient
in psychiatric clinic of Chaophyaabhaibhubejhr hospital, Prachinburi province and met the
inclusion criteria. They were randomly assigned into either the experimental group (n = 10) and
the control group (n = 10). The experimental group received 8 sessions of supportive group
psychotherapy, two sessions per week; each session took about 60 to 90 minutes. Whereas the
control group received routine nursing care from the hospital. The Personal Information and
Self-care Behaviors scale were used to collect data at pre-post test and one-month follow-up.
Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, repeated measure ANOVA and Bonferroni method for
comparison test were employed to analyze the data.
The results of the study revealed that the mean scores of self-care behaviors between
the experimental and the control groups at post-test and 1-month follow-up were significantly
different (p < .001). In the experimental group, mean scores of self-care behaviors at pre-test,
post-test and 1-month follow-up were significantly different (p < .001). However, the mean scores
at post-test and 1 month follow-up were not significantly different (p > .05).
The study results revealed that group supportive psychotherapy could enhance self-care
behaviors in schizophrenia patients. Therefore, psychiatric and mental health nurses and relevant
health personnel could apply group supportive psychotherapy to promote self-care behaviors in
other psychiatric patients or chronic patients in order to enhance their quality of life.