Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program (PRP)
Independence Foundation, Inc. offers a psychiatric rehabilitation program that supports assists persons, children and adults, with functional disabilities resulting from mental stresses to develop, enhance, and/or retain mental stability, social competencies, personal adjustment and/or independent living competencies. This allows the client to experience more success and satisfaction in the environments of their choice and can function as independently as possible. These interventions occur concurrently with necessary clinical treatments and should begin as soon as clinically possible. A planned program of goal setting, functional assessment, identification of needed and preferred skills and supports, skill teaching and managing supports and resources is needed to produce the desired outcomes consistent with a person’s culturalenvironment.
The program is founded on the principles of consumer choice and the active involvement of persons in their rehabilitation. Rehabilitative support practice is guided by the basic philosophy of rehabilitation that people with mental stresses need opportunities to identify and choose for themselves their desired roles in the community with regard to living, learning working and/or social environments. Participants can influence and shape program development. The practice of rehabilitation is comprised of three
strategies:
1. helping persons identify goals;
2. helping persons plan strategies and acquire necessary skills to reach and maintain desired goals;
and
3. helping persons develop necessary supports to maintain those goals.
Services are rendered in the community or at the Program's office.
Practices employed in the program aim to assist persons to develop, reach and maintain goals of their choice in the community. Practices include:
• Engaging persons in the program
• Assessing with the person his/her interest and preferences for rehabilitation services
• Developing rehabilitation plans
Defining the person’s preferences regarding a rehabilitation environment
• Educating the person about mental illness and recovery
• Helping the person learn about what is available in the community and identifying options the person may be interested in pursuing as rehabilitation goals.
• Assessing what the person needs and prefers in terms of skills and supports to develop, achieve and maintain rehabilitation goals(s)
• Direct or indirect skills teaching
• Assisting the person in gaining and utilizing supports and resources including linking the person with appropriate community services that are mindful of cultural content
• Advocating for the person as needed
• Creating a socio-cultural environment which supports recovery
• Developing and implementing strategies to assist the person in developing, achieving and
maintaining rehabilitation goal(s).
These activities/techniques are designed to provide the person with the opportunity to: (1) become informed about the stresses; (2) assess what is needed to recover; (3) choose rehabilitation goal(s); and (4) plan for and obtain the experiences needed to develop the skills to achieve recovery. A key element of rehabilitation is experiencing a valued role in the community and obtaining and using the power to make choices about one’s life. Such experiences are essential to the cognitive and behavioral change that underpin the recovery process for any person.
The following are examples of appropriate services which the participant would shape their program to include are:
i) Psychoeducation: Mental health education regarding self-management of symptoms, medication and side effects.
ii) Health education: Education regarding optimal physical health.
iii) Assessing rehabilitation preferences: Determining with the person his or her personal perspectives and preferences regarding participation in the transitional support process.
iv) Setting rehabilitation goals. This is the process by which the person chooses desired rehabilitation goal (s).
v) Functional Assessment: Determining with the person the specific skills and supports or resources the person needs and prefers to develop, achieve and maintain rehabilitation goal(s).
vi) Skills Teaching and Development: Providing persons with needed and desired skills to develop, achieve and maintain rehabilitation goals. Teaching methods may be direct or indirect. Examples of areas for skill teaching/development include:
• Solving problems
• Maintaining the living environment
• Managing resources
• Using public transportation
• Planning menus and preparing food
• Skills for self-care
• Skills for socializing
• Skills for budgeting
• Communication and interpersonal skills
• Pre-vocational and vocational supports
• Educational management (linkage to GED, trade or higher educational programs)
