Purpose: The study aims to assess the impact of personalized in-home nursing care plans on the degree of dependence among adult patients with schizophrenia, and on family burden.
Design and methods: This is a randomized controlled study with 94 participants: The experimental group received a personalized in-home nursing care plan. The comparison group got a standard care at its mental health center.
Findings: The pretest-posttest multivariate analysis of covariance revealed statistically significant group differences (p = .003). The help received the positive activity and the degree of independence in the experimental group improved mainly due to intervention.
Practice implications: A personalized in-home nursing care plan improves the degree of independence of people diagnosed with schizophrenia living in the community and reduces the burden perceived by the family.
2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc