Mental health consumers as transitional aides: A bridge from the hospital to the community

This paper describes a consumer training project designed to facilitate a seamless transition between state hospital and community care for individuals with severe mental illness. A training protocol was developed and eight consumers were selected for training. Six mental health consumers completed the training and went on to be employed. Four of the consumers were employed by the Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) to work as Transitional Aides. The two remaining consumers were hired in the private sector. At the end of two years, five of the six TAs remain employed. Comparison of CMHC attendance for TA-Assisted and Non-Assisted consumers indicated that the TA-Assisted consumers had significantly higher attendance and lower "drop-out" rates than the Non-Assisted consumers. They also maintained contact with the CMHC for a longer time span than Non-Assisted consumers.