"Coffee groups": a nine-year follow-up study

The authors present a 9-year follow-up study of 76 chronically ill psychiatric patients treated in "coffee groups," a maintenance treatment approach first described in a pilot study in 1976. Their findings show a significant drop in rehospitalization rates for chronic schizophrenic patients after they had started to attend the group, despite irregular patterns of participation and attendance. There was a leveling off of measurable change in psychosocial functioning in contrast to earlier optimistic reports. The coffee group formula has proved to be economical and is viable for a wide chronic diagnostic range and for a variety of therapists' styles.