ABSTRACT
In Taiwan, mental illnesses are typically treated in institutional settings, and few studies have discussed how patients’ participation in community activities influences their treatment outcomes. In this study, five patients with mental illness from a community rehabilitation center in central Taiwan were invited to a six-week-long community cleanup drive where they could interact with local residents. The Stages of Recovery Scale was used to assess the outcomes of their participation in the cleanup drive. Statistical significance was discovered in several measuring items of the scale: A1 (“getting better”), A8 (“enriching my life”), A13 (“seeing myself positively”), A14 (“being able to get things done”), A23 (“trying to get a new life experience”), A24 (“believing that things will get better”), A28 (“working hard to accomplish my goals”), A33 (“socializing”), and A36 (“self-worth”). This indicated that the cleanup drive contributed substantially to the assimilation of the patients into the local community, allowing them to socialize with locals, alleviating public concerns about mental illness, improving public awareness of the patients’ care for the community’s hygienic conditions and willingness to seek inclusion in the community, and reducing social stigma related to mental illness. In summary, mental rehabilitation institutions in Taiwan can organize community activities as a therapy for their patients.
