THE EFFECTS OF A PROGRAM TO TEACH SELF-ADMINISTRATION OF FLUPHENAZINE DECANOATE ON THE CHRONIC SCHIZOPHRENIC

Methods to enhance self-care and consumer responsibility for care need to be developed for people with mental as well as physical problems. The purpose of this study was to introduce a program to teach chronic schizophrenics self-administration of fluphenazine decanoate.;Three patients learned how to self-administer and maintain the self-administration approach for long periods of time--three years, two years, and nine months. One of the patients was able to self-administer at home without supervision. Gradually over a period of time more patients requested to learn the self-administration approach. The outpatient treatment program adopted the approach as a feasible option to be offered to patients on fluphenazine decanoate.;Nurses reported that the patients who self-administered felt more positive about themselves, complained less about the medicine, and were more compliant about taking the medicine compared to patients who did not self-administer. Total SCRS scores decreased after self-administration. There were no major differences in semantic differential rating scale scores when compared to before and after self-administration. There were no noticeable differences in background characteristics between the self-administrators and the non-self-administrators.;Results obtained from this study have implications for clinical practice and for further research. Programs designed to work with chronic schizophrenics should offer self-administration as an option. If a self-administration approach is introduced in a given program, it may take some time before it is accepted. Individuals who are able to learn self-administration in the presence of a nurse may eventually be able to self-administer on their own at home.;Patients in a Midwestern outpatient treatment program and a private practice setting were taught by psychiatric nurses how to inject themselves with needles. This self-administration approach had never been tried before. Comparisons were made on patients who self-administered and those who did not self-administer based on the Short Clinical Rating Scale (SCRS) and a background questionnaire. Follow-up reports were obtained on the self-administrators based on semantic differential rating scale scores, SCRS scores, and reports made by psychiatric nurses.