Schizophrenia study puts patients in charge

Posted November 21st on StoneyCreekNews.com:

Hearing [Our] Voices sheds light on control, medication challenges

By Richard Leitner, News Staff

Barbara Schneider [pictured] recalls her shock at her eldest son’s reaction to his being diagnosed with schizophrenia at 23. They had stopped for a breather during a bike ride and she had expected him to agree with her observation that he’d had a tough year.

“He said, ‘Oh, no. No, since my diagnosis I think that it’s so much better,’ ” Ms. Schneider recounted at a recent forum hosted by St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.

“He was referring to the fact that he’d received a diagnosis that helped him make sense of his very frightening experiences and that he was taking medication to help him cope better with life in general.

“It’s not too strong to say that I was completely stunned by the difference in our perspectives.”

The revelation prompted the University of Calgary communications professor to spearhead a groundbreaking study that took a unique look at the struggles faced by people diagnosed with schizophrenia: it put the patients in charge.

To read the entire article, click here.

Also see:
callhome.ucalgary.ca

Photograph of Dr. Barbara Schneider courtesy of the University of Calgary.

Schizophrenia / Hearing [our] Voices -- Dartmouth Visit

September 22nd to 30th

Alderney Gate Public Library
Dartmouth

Hearing [our] Voices is a research-based poster exhibit exploring dilemmas of care and control in the lives of people with schizophrenia. It illustrates the challenges that people with mental illnesses have in finding and maintaining stable housing, and it is intended to raise awareness about the connections between schizophrenia and homelessness.

The exhibit is based on a participatory research project by Professor Barbara Schneider at the University of Calgary. It involved, as co-researchers, nine members of the Unsung Heroes Peer Support Program at the Calgary Chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of Alberta, all of whom have schizophrenia and have experienced housing instability. Under the guidance of Professor Schneider, the members of this group conducted interviews and focus groups with other people who live with schizophrenia and have also experienced homelessness or housing instability. They are now participating in a range of dissemination activities, including a documentary film, a graphic book, and this traveling poster exhibit. Detailed information about the Hearing [our] Voices project is available by clicking here.

The exhibit will be open to the public from Monday, September 22nd, to Tuesday, September 30th, at the Alderney Gate Public Library, 60 Alderney Drive, Dartmouth.

For further information, contact Stephen Ayer, Executive Director, Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia, by phoning (902) 465-2601 or 1-800-465-2601 (toll-free in Nova Scotia) or by sending an email to sns@ns.sympatico.ca.