The effectiveness of Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) in the psychosocial treatment of people with schizophrenia or other severe mental illnesses is not clearly described in the literature. A recent study comprehensively investigated the effectiveness of IMR, including the impact of completion and fidelity.

The study enrolled 187 outpatients to receive either IMR plus care as usual (CAU) or only CAU; and investigated group differences over an 18-month period, comprising 12 months of treatment and six months of follow-up. The primary outcome was overall illness management while the secondary outcomes were measures regarding illness management, clinical, personal, and functional recovery, and hospitalizations. The interviewers were blinded to group allocation. 

The observations of the study were as follows-

o Patients who received IMR showed statistically significant improvement in self-reported overall illness management. They also showed an improvement in self-esteem, a component of personal recovery.

o Other questionnaires did not show any effects.

o Between-group differences in terms of hospitalizations were not statistically significant.

o Patients in both groups revealed statistically significant improvement in clinician-rated overall illness management, social support, clinical and functional recovery, and self-stigma over time.

o IMR completion led to stronger effects.

o High IMR fidelity showed an association with self-esteem. 

Thus, the efficacy of IMR in overall illness self-management was confirmed by this pioneer RCT on IMR to explore the impact of fidelity on treatment efficacy. Promoting IMR completion and fidelity is important to improve efficacy.

Front Psychiatry. 2021 Dec 14;12:723435. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.723435. PMID: 34970161; PMCID: PMC8712643.