Psychoeducation
The term ‘‘psychoeducation’’ was first employed by
Anderson et al22 and was used to describe a behavioral
therapeutic concept consisting of 4 elements; briefing
the patients about their illness, problem solving training,
communication training, and self-assertiveness training,
whereby relatives were also included.
Within the Anglo-American realm, psychoeducation
fulfilled less the function of an independent, selfcontained
therapeutic method and was viewed more as
a combination of several therapeutic elements contained
within a complex psychosocial intervention.23–28
A multitude of studies have demonstrated clear superiority
of psychoeducational family interventions as
compared with standard treatments.29–33
In light of the evident decline in duration of stay in
medical institutions of patients with schizophrenia since
approximately 1980 and the simultaneous necessity for
an economic use of therapeutic resources, the demand
for compact and yet efficient treatment methods grew.
Within this context, from the mid 1980s onwards, an independent
understanding of psychoeducation began to
unfold in the German-speaking realm. The underlying
aim was to create a well-defined, manualized, and
curriculum-orientated therapeutic method, adapted to
fit the needs of neurocognitively impaired patients with
schizophrenia. The working group ‘‘Psychoeducation
of patients with schizophrenia34’’ has formulated the
following definition:
The term psychoeducation comprises systemic, didacticpsychotherapeutic
interventions, which are adequate for
informing patients and their relatives about the illness