The Effects of Group Assertiveness Training among Schizophrenia Patients - Essay Example

The effects of Group assertiveness training among schizophrenia Patients Schizophrenia is one of the most challenging disorders that continue to affect many people across the world. Persons affected by this disorder may find it difficult to think clearly, control their emotions and interact with others. In addition, the families of the patients as well as the society in general are directly affected by this disorder because the patients rely on others for assistance. For this reason, it is necessary for this disorder to be managed in order to eliminate the symptoms associated with it. Understanding this disorder and the methods of managing it is important to the mental health nursing because it gives hope to patients to live a productive and comfortable life. In this paper, the findings of the research by Tso-Ying Lee, et al. (2013) on assertiveness training in patients suffering from schizophrenia will be summarized and evaluated. In this study, the authors’ aim was to study how group assertiveness training affects social anxiety, assertiveness and interpersonal communication among patients suffering from chronic schizophrenia. The authors’ research was motivated by the fact that persons suffering from schizophrenia encounter cognitive disturbances and are unable to express themselves effectively (Lee et al. 2013). This leads to depression, anxiety, anger and frustration. According to the authors, group assertiveness training has been found to successfully help people overcome anxiety, enhance their interpersonal communication and improve on their social skills. The study used 74 participants from two wards in Taiwan recruited for the period between June 2009 and July 2010 (Lee et al. 2013). The findings of the study show that group assertiveness training among people suffering from schizophrenia helped in improving their assertiveness, reducing their anxiety and increase their satisfaction with interpersonal communication. The authors claim that the improvement in assertiveness may be due to the fact that assertive training helped the patients develop a positive self-perception. The reduction in social anxiety was as a result of the assertiveness training shaping and reinforcing attitudes and behaviors which reduce anxiety. In addition, assertiveness training helped the participants share their experiences and understand each other. Finally, assertiveness training helped in enhancing interpersonal communication satisfaction because it provided an interactive environment that improved their tolerance and enhanced interpersonal communication. The findings of this article are relevant to today’s practice and can be used to enhance the outcomes of patients suffering from chronic schizophrenia as well as other mental problems. First, in my practice, persons with mental health issues, especially those suffering from chronic schizophrenia, can be subjected to various topics that help in assertive training. For example, I could come up with training sessions in which aspects such as listening, asking questions and making requests could be covered. This is an important and effective therapy that can be used to supplement other forms of therapy. Secondly, the findings of this study have highlighted the importance of interaction between persons suffering from chronic schizophrenia. In my practice, I can create sessions where these patients interact in order to understand each other. Through this interaction, I will also be in a position to understand them better, and this will improve the quality of services offered. For instance, one way to encourage such interaction is through sports where such patients are encouraged to participate in a sporting activity, working in teams. Finally, the findings of this research have shown the importance of tolerance and encouragement among persons suffering from chronic schizophrenia. This is also important for persons suffering from other mental health problems. I can apply these concepts in real practice by exercising tolerance towards by patients and also offering them encouragement in order to boost their confidence. First, the authors used patients with schizophrenia in order to examine the effect of group assertiveness training. This study group is the real representation of the population for which this research is intended. This helps enhance the accuracy of the findings because the study is based on real patients and not just any other group. Secondly, in this research article, the authors have included all the information related to the study, including the background, methods of study and the results. This makes it easy for the reader to understand the purpose of the research, the methods used and the significance of the findings. Finally, the authors have used statistical analysis in the study. This helps to enhance the accuracy of the methods used and also helps in better interpretation of the results. Through statistical analysis, the researchers are able to identify patterns and get rid of biases. This article has several limitations. First, the authors only based their study on a population of 74 patients obtained from two chronic psychiatric Wards in Taiwan. Since the findings are based on a population from a single setting, these findings may not be generalized to other patients in other regions. Secondly, in order to measure the effects of assertive training, the authors assessed the patients three months after completing the intervention. This period is not long enough to prove that group assertive training helps in reducing symptoms among these patients. It may be possible that the symptoms among these patents dropped to their original state several months after assessment. Finally, in assessing the outcomes of the interventions, the researchers and clinical staff evaluated the patients by basing on the conversations and observable behaviors. This method of data collection is likely to introduce errors since such observations can be affected by various personal biases or limitations. Given the nature of the information contained in this article, I highly recommend it to my colleagues. The ideas presented in the article can be used by my colleagues in practice, thereby improving the quality of services they offer to patients, especially to those with mental health issues. The ideas presented about group assertive training can be used by nurses to understand their patients better and improve their nursing skills in general. In addition, the information is well organized, logical and easy to read and understand. This makes it a good read for my colleagues. To conclude, understanding schizophrenia and how to manage its symptoms is an important aspect of mental health nursing. Persons suffering from chronic schizophrenia face numerous challenges, mainly related to their emotions and social life. The article by Tso-Ying Lee, et al. (2013) makes an important contribution towards this subject by analyzing how group assertive training can be used to manage these symptoms. The research has shown that this training helps schizophrenic patients control their anxiety, enhance interpersonal communication and improve their assertiveness. The information presented in this article can be used by nurses in helping persons suffering from chronic schizophrenia and other mental problems. Reference Lee, T., Chang, S., Chu, H., Yang, C., Ou, K., Chung, M., & Chou, K. (2013). The effects of assertiveness training in patients with schizophrenia: a randomized, single-blind, controlled study. Journal of Advanced Nursing 69(11), 2549–2559. doi:10.1111/jan.12142 Read More