ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on social interventions directed at improving both the patient’s symptoms and social functioning. It reviews studies of the effectiveness of various techniques employed primarily by trained social workers. The crucial role of social factors in the causation of mental illness has been widely established and there exists a substantial literature documenting the positive associations between a number of socio-cultural factors and mental illness. Although subjective impressions of social work involvement with the mentally disturbed indicate that social workers can offer a great deal of support and counsel, it is important to evaluate their therapeutic role in the management of mental disorder. A combination of maintenance medication and sociotherapy was found again to be a most effective combination in the final hospital-based study. Clinical outcome proved to be unrelated to the social worker’s activities, much of which were devoted to solving practical problems.
