Token reinforcement in the psychosocial rehabilitation of individuals with chronic mental illness: is it effective over time?

The main purpose of this project was to determine whether the addition of the token economy reinforcement to the regular treatment modalities (medication therapy and psychotherapy) improved the following outcome measures: re-hospitalization rate. NYPCC (agency) therapeutic goals, symptomatology, social integration activities and ADL skills. The research was carried out over a period of 18 months. Subjects were 617 individuals diagnosed as having chronic mental illness. They lived in three adult homes in New York, two of which were on a token economy programme, while the third served as a quasi-control group. The findings suggest that while medication therapy and psychotherapy have different effects in respect to the various outcome measures, the addition of the token economy programme resulted in positive, albeit marginal, gains to all outcome measures.