Abstract:
The purpose of this quasi-experimental research using the pretest-posttest design were: 1) to compare the functioning of patient with chronic schizophrenia before and after received the negative symptoms management program, and 2) to compare the functioning of patient with chronic schizophrenia who received negative symptoms management program and those who received regular nursing care activities. Forty of patients with chronic schizophrenia who received services in in-patient department, Somdet chaopraya institute of psychiatry, who met the inclusion criteria. They were matched pairs by gender and duration of illness and then randomly assigned to experimental group and control group, 20 subjects in each group. The experimental group received the negative symptoms management program composed of 7 group activities for 3 weeks to improve negative symptoms management skill and relevant skill. The control group received regular nursing care activities. The research instrument consisted; 1) The Negative Symptoms Management Program, 2) Demographic questionnaire, and 3) The Life Skill Profile. All instruments were tested for content validity by 5 professional experts. The reliability of the Life Skill Profile was reported by Cronbachs Alpha coefficient of .88 Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test. Major findings were as follows: 1. The functioning of patients with chronic schizophrenia who received the negative symptoms management program was significantly higher than before, at p .05 level; 2. The functioning of patients with chronic schizophrenia who received the negative symptoms management program was significantly higher than that who received regular nursing care activities, at p .05 level;