Consumer satisfaction and attributions of improvement among fully recovered schizophrenics.

As people with serious mental illness are viewed as consumers rather than patients, their views and needs are increasingly seen as essential to the treatment process. The aim of the present study is to add valuable knowledge about how to help patients by reporting what fully recovered schizophrenics, as consumers, had found helpful in their treatment as well as which factors contributed to their recovery. In addition to a semistructured interview, two instruments were used: the "UCLA Social Attainment Survey Premorbid Adjustment Scale" (SASPAS) to measure patients' premorbid adjustment and the "Global Assessment Scale" (GAS) to obtain an assessment of the present general functioning of the subjects. The results showed that a majority of the recovered subjects emphasized their own will-power and the human qualities in their therapists as helpful to them in the process towards recovery. The therapeutic relationships were characterized by the kindling and sustaining of hope in the clients.