Exploring Community Integration Among Formerly Homeless Veterans in Project-Based Versus Tenant-Based Supportive Housing.

Community integration-an individual's embeddedness in his/her community-impacts mental and physical health. This study aimed to understand factors affecting community integration among Veterans in the Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with HUD-VASH staff (n = 14) and persons residing in project-based (n = 9) and tenant-based (n = 9) housing at VA Greater Los Angeles.

Does 'errorless learning' compensate for neurocognitive impairments in the work rehabilitation of persons with schizophrenia?

Background: Because neurocognitive impairments of schizophrenia appear to be 'rate limiting' in the acquisition of skills for community functioning, it is important to develop efficacious rehabilitative interventions that can compensate for these impairments. Procedures based on errorless learning may facilitate work rehabilitation because they effectively automate training of work and other skills, thereby reducing the cognitive burden on persons with schizophrenia.

Method: The present study examined the ability of a training method based on errorless learning to compensate for neurocognitive deficits in teaching two entry-level job tasks (index card filing and toilet-tank assembly) to a sample of 54 unemployed, clinically stable schizophrenic and schizoaffective disorder out-patients.

The neurocognitive effects of low-dose haloperidol: a two-year comparison with risperidone.

Background: Neurocognitive deficits are core features of schizophrenia that are linked to functional outcome for the disorder. Recent studies and reviews have concluded that newer antipsychotic medications are better for neurocognitive deficits than conventional antipsychotic medications; however, one difficulty in interpreting this literature is that the comparisons have mainly been with high doses of conventional medications. This study examined the neurocognitive effects of low-dose haloperidol compared with risperidone over a 2-year period.

Should schizophrenia be treated as a neurocognitive disorder?

The search is on for meaningful psychopharmacological and cognitive/behavioral interventions for neurocognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Findings in this area are emerging rapidly, and in the absence of integrating frameworks, they are destined to emerge chaotically. Clear guidelines for testing neurocognitive interventions and interpreting results are critical at this early stage.

Monetary reinforcement and Wisconsin Card Sorting performance in schizophrenia: why show me the money?

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is a measure of concept formation and cognitive flexibility that has been associated with the integrity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Although patients show deficits on the WCST, training techniques that rely on enhanced instruction are often effective at improving performance, at least temporarily. The beneficial effects of monetary reinforcement alone, however, have not shown such clear-cut effects.