Family intervention may reduce the number of relapse events and hospitalisations and would therefore be of interest to people with schizophrenia, clinicians and policy makers. However, the treatment effects of these trials may be overestimated due to the poor methodological quality. Further data from trials that describe the methods of randomisation, test the blindness of the study evaluators, and implement the CONSORT guidelines would enable greater confidence in these findings.
Family treatment for schizophrenia : the design and research application of therapist training models.
The NIMH Treatment Strategies in Schizophrenia (TSS) collaborative study group investigated the efficacy of antisychotic drug maintenance strategies involving reduced medication exposure in interaction with applied and supportive family management for the long-term treatment of schizophrenia. Therapy was provided at five centers by 25 clinicians who did not participate in the development of the therapies. They were trained by two of the authors, I.R.H.F and C.W.M, in applied family management, a homebased treatment derived from the behavioral family therapy developed by them. Clinicians' characteristics, selection, and training methods, as well as patient rehospitalization rates, are reported for the two family management conditions. The TSS study represents a bridge between the development of a novel therapy and its dissemination in general clinical practice.