Schizophrenia rehabilitation would not be complete without assistance with job training and job finding. Many rehabilitation programs have a vocational component built in. Stuart & Sundeen (1995) state that aside from the development of work skills, the goal of these programs is to promote good work habits. Most often the problems that interfere with keeping jobs interfere with getting them also. A schizophrenia sufferer may not necessarily seek work for money. Helping others is sometimes a vocation that schizophrenics aspire to. Volunteer work is quite often available. Volunteer work does not usually have financial reward, but it may provide the schizophrenic with a sense of purpose and meaning. A point to keep in mind is to remind families and friends to value whatever the individual spends his or her time at. Work, paid or volunteer, may become monotonous, repetitious or even unchallenging, but for the schizophrenic, it can provide a social or occupational environment that will become familiar and safe. The structured routine that employment offers provides a welcome diversion from unpleasant preoccupations.

Retraining is a significant component of vocational rehabilitation. Schizophrenics sometimes want to go back to school to retrain for something new or to finish something they have already started. Sherman (1998) states schizophrenics that graduate with college certificates have a greater sense of purpose and direction. The Redirection Through Education (RTE) program at Seneca College in Toronto, Ontario is a valuable program to achieve that end. "Developed in 1981, this psychosocial rehabilitation program is unique, as it offers adults with psychiatric disorders an opportunity to focus on reintegration into the community while being located in an educational setting" (Sherman, 1998, p. 22).

Schizophrenics need to learn about their illness and how to deal with it. Education parameters include the illness itself, treatments, medications and side effects and what is available in terms of community programs that can assist in their recovery. With any long-term illness, such as schizophrenia, the client must depend on the support of family, friends and the community at large in order to maintain as normal a life as possible. By educating the schizophrenic about this illness, you empower the individual. To empower is to begin to give control back to the individual. Education is key.

Families and friends are also in need of education about schizophrenia. "Family education has become a primary nursing intervention when providing rehabilitative services to relatives of seriously mentally ill people" (Stuart & Sundeen, 1995, p. 317). Carson & Arnold (1996) state that when the education process is successful, it can lower the emotional climate of the home, while maintaining reasonable expectations from the schizophrenic. With schizophrenia, friends and families can be thrust into the role of primary care giver. Initially, when the illness is first diagnosed, almost no family is equipped to cope. "The diagnosis of schizophrenia is experienced as a destructive force that interrupts and transforms the family life trajectory" (Tuck, duMont, Evans & Shape, 1997, p. 120). Over time, with proper education about schizophrenia, it is hoped that the family will learn how to care for the individual suffering from schizophrenia.

Medication is an initial must for every individual afflicted with schizophrenia, but it is by no means a cure. "Rehabilitation is the tertiary prevention process of helping the person who has a serious mental illness return to the highest possible level of functioning" (Stuart & Sundeen, 1995, p. 321). In order to reach the optimum results with rehabilitation, all aspects of a schizophrenic's life must be considered. It is ideal to keep expectations open and flexible, in order to accept the schizophrenic at his or her level of functioning. The best rehabilitation plan is individualized and is formulated with the aid of the schizophrenic, the family and all health care providers associated with the schizophrenia sufferer. It is necessary to provide the schizophrenic with courtesy, consideration and most of all respect. This will help achieve self-assurance and autonomy, and to help achieve the single most important aspect of rehabilitation: improving the quality of the schizophrenic's life.

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