Effectiveness and acceptability of psycho-education group intervention for people hospitalized in psychiatric wards and nurses

Objective: To assess effectiveness and acceptability of a Psycho-education Group Intervention (PGI) on a sample of patients admitted to a Psychiatric Inpatient Unit (PIU) and on ward nurses. Methods: Case-control study. PGI was delivered according to the model of Vendittelli and colleagues (2008). Male and female patients aged 18-70 were eligible. Cases attended the PGI, while controls did not. A 5-item ad hoc Likert-scale was used to record ward atmosphere. The Italian version of the Simple Feedback Question Form for people attending Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Group (SFQF-CBTG) was administered to each patient before discharge. The primary outcome was readmission rate after 6 months from discharge, secondary outcomes were ratings of ward atmosphere by nurses and feed-back from people hospitalized. All Statistics were performed with STATA 13.1. Results: Fifty-two patients were enrolled, 17 cases and 35 controls. No significant differences emerged in the primary outcome, though compulsory readmissions were noticeable only among controls. Ratings of ward atmosphere in relation to group activities did not differ. Seventeen SFQF-CBTG were filled in. Most cases reported at discharge to have found the group "helpful", stating that "they would attend it in the future again", and "group topics were not difficult". Conclusions: No evidence emerged in favour or against effectiveness of the PGI for patients and ward nurses, though the intervention was rated as acceptable and feasible.