Background: A number of programs have been developed to promote the contact between adolescents and mentally-ill patients, in order to break the stigma, improve understanding, promote mental health and prevent substance abuse. The aim of this study was to describe the experience of patients with schizophrenia, high school students, and their social context, participating in a short-term cohousing initiative.
Methods: A qualitative case-study approach was implemented. Patients with schizophrenia from the San Juan de Dios Psychiatric Hospital, female students from Almen High School, and participants from their social context (parents, hospital staff, and teachers) were included, using purposeful sampling. Data were collected from 51 participants (15 patients, nine students, 11 hospital staff, six teachers, 10 parents) via non-participant observation, focus groups, informal interviews, researchers' field notes and patients' personal diaries and letters. A thematic analysis was performed.
Results: The themes identified included a) learning to live together: students and patients participate and learn together; b) the perception of the illness and the mentally-ill: the barrier between health and disease is very slim, and society tends to avoid contact with those who are ill; c) change: a transformation takes place in students, in their self-perception, based on the real and intense nature of the experience; d) a trial and an opportunity: patients test their ability to live outside the hospital; e) discharge and readmission: discharge is experienced as both a liberation and a difficulty, whereas relapse and readmission are experienced as failures.
Conclusions: Our findings can help us to better understand schizophrenia and encourage a more positive approach towards both the illness and those who suffer from it. These results may be used for the development of cohousing programs in controlled environments.