Xiang 2007.

Methods	Allocation: randomised Design: single centre Duration: 2 years Country: Bejing, China
Participants	N = 103 Diagnosis: inpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to DSM–IV. They had been clinically stable for at least 1 month before recruitment and were about to begin their pre‐discharge home leave. Mean duration of illness 15 years Setting: the Chaoyang Mental Health Care Institute. As a district psychiatric hospital it has inpatient and outpatient service patients with schizophrenia. Age: 18‐60 years, mean 38.6 years Gender: 47% male Ethnicity: ‐ Substance abuse: excluded Living situation: at least one family member would be cohabiting with the participant after discharge Marital status: 54% never married Employment status: no employment immediately after discharge Working history: ‐ Motivation: ‐ Education: mean 10.7 years Disability benefit: ‐ Excluded: the presence of ongoing acute medical or neurological conditions, and current or a history of misuse of drugs and substances other than nicotine
Interventions	Community re‐entry module (N = 53) A module of a standardised, structured social skills training programme devised at the University of California, Los Angeles. The community re‐entry module was primarily designed for inpatients, to foster seamless care in the transition between hospital and community. It consisted of 16 training sessions. Each of the sessions was taught using the 7 learning activities described in the trainer’s manual: introduction; videotape and questions/answers; role‐play; resource management; outcome problems; in vivo exercises; homework assignments. Each group comprised 6‐8 participants and the group sessions took place 4 times/week. Group psycho‐education (N = 50) An equally intensive programme of group psycho‐education, a standard psychosocial intervention in many parts of China. The opportunity to attend quarterly, community‐based workshops following discharge was offered to participants in both study groups as part of a routine intervention to reinforce the use in the community of skills acquired during admission. In addition, family members were encouraged to participate in these regular workshops.
Outcomes	Percentage of participants who obtained competitive employment Mental health (PANNS) Hospital admissions Dropouts
Notes	Re‐employment was defined as at least 3 consecutive months of salaried employment during study period
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Participants were randomly allocated
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No further details
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Participants and personnel could identify intervention allocation by components of programme
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Two raters independently assessed all participants. The raters were not involved in the interventions and were also masked to the study protocol. Before commencing the study, participants were instructed by the research co‐ordinator not to disclose their group membership to the raters at any stage of study. In order to assess the effectiveness of the raters’ masking, we designed a 5‐point Likert scale. These results showed that the raters were not sure about the participants’ group membership, suggesting that masking was maintained relatively successfully throughout the study period
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	94/103 (91%) participants completed all the research interviews. Missing post‐intervention and follow‐up data were calculated by using the ‘replace missing calculated by using the ‘replace missing values’ option of the SPSS
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	All listed outcomes were reported
Other bias	Low risk	The study was funded by two grants, ZD199816 and TS199801, from the Bureau of Public Health, Beijing

ACT: assertive community treatment; BPRS: Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; CBT: cognitive behavioural therapy; CMH: community mental health; CWT: compensated work therapy; DPA: diversified placement approach DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; GED: General Education Diploma; HADS: Hamilton Depression and Anxiety Scale; IPS: individual placement and support; ITT: intention‐to‐treat; ISA: integrated service agency; IV: invalidity; MANSA: Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life; MHI: Mental Health Inventory; MMSE: Mini‐Mental State Examination; PACT: programme of ACT; PANNS: PTSD: post‐traumatic stress disorder; PVT: prevocational training; PWI: Personal Wellbeing Index; QOLI: The Quality of Life Interview; QOLP: Lancashire Quality of Life Profile; SAMHSA: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; SE: supported employment; SFHS: Short‐Form Health Survey SMD: serious mental disorder; SMI: severe mental illness; SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences; SSA: Social Security Administration; SSDI; Social Security Disability Insurance; SSI; Supplemental Security Income; TVR: traditional vocational rehabilitation; TWE: transitional work experience; VA: Veterans Affairs; VR: vocational rehabilitation; WSST: work‐related social skills training