Soteria: Evaluation of a home-based treatment for schizophrenia.

Data are reported from an ongoing study comparing outcome in two groups of young, first-admission schizophrenics - one receiving "usual" treatment (including drugs) on the wards of a good community mental health center, the other being treated by a non-professional staff (usually without phenothiazines) in a small home-like facility in the community. Six-month and one-year outcome data show few differences in symptoms between the two groups, but three measures of psychosocial functioning significantly favor the experimental group.