Table 2.
List of recommendations when addressing functional recovery of patients with schizophrenia
| The concept of functional recovery | |
| Despite the lack of a unified definition of functional recovery, it is recommended to ponder quality of life, cognition and clinical remission when considering functional recovery in research and routine practice. | |
| Functional recovery should be considered a goal in the management of patients with schizophrenia. | |
| Functional recovery should be always included among endpoints of clinical trials assessing patients with schizophrenia. | |
| Assessment of functional recovery | |
| Irrespective of the tools used for assessing functional recovery, information for appraising it should be gathered from patients, their relatives (and/or caregivers), and the healthcare team. | |
| Irrespective of the tools used for assessing functional recovery, the patient’s socio-cultural background should be considered when assessing functional recovery. | |
| Factors influencing functional recovery | |
| When seeking for the achievement of functional recovery, the combined influence of stressful life events, substance abuse, socioeconomic conditions, and family relationships, should be considered. | |
| Although negative symptoms have a great impact on functioning, clinicians should not focus exclusively on symptom remission when considering functional recovery. | |
| Psychosocial interventions and functional recovery | |
| Psychosocial interventions are necessary to achieve functional recovery. A combination of various therapies (including social skills training, family therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, social cognitive training, and occupational programs) is likely to be most useful in achieving functional recovery. | |
| Pharmacological treatment and functional recovery | |
| Functional recovery should be considered in decision-making on pharmacological treatments. | |
| The perspective of patients and their relatives on functional recovery | |
| The attitudes of all stakeholders (i.e., patients, their relatives, and clinicians) influence functional recovery. Hence, when seeking for achieving functional recovery, all these perspectives should be taken into account. |