Caregiver assisted home-based cognitive remediation for individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia: A pilot study

Abstract Cognitive deficits in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia are ubiquitous and, therefore, cognitive remediation is considered one of the prime targets of a comprehensive intervention program for schizophrenia. However, cognitive remediation is a resource consuming intervention and in lower and middle-income countries (LAMIC) such interventions are often neglected due to the resource constraints of the mental health services set-ups. Therefore, it is imperative to develop cognitive remediation programs that are less resource consuming for the mental health service delivery system. Keeping this in view, in the present pilot study, we tested the feasibility of a caregiver assisted home-based cognitive remediation program and compared its efficacy with a clinic-based cognitive remediation program. Findings show that it is feasible to conduct cognitive remediation program with the help of caregivers in patients’ home settings and that the home-based cognitive remediation is as effective as the clinic-based cognitive remediation. The results of the study have been further discussed in the light of the practical implications, limitations and future research.