POSTER

E. Sadeh, C. Morris, G. MacMillan, S. Robertson

Groups are critical part of the rehabilitation model in Early Psychosis Intervention. Our program specialized in early assessment & treatment of psychosis, offers recreational and leisure based groups as well as skill based groups to individuals aged 16 to 35 years. Evaluation of groups highlighted challenges in client’s engagement in the program; therefore Café group, an open-ended, weekly psycho-educational, drop in group was developed. We used a mixed‐methods approach to evaluate the impact of the Café sessions on clients & their engagement. Client experiences & their engagement level were measured by a client satisfaction survey & Singh-O’Brien Level of Engagement Scale. Twenty-five unique topics were presented during 7 months and 43 clients participated in 29 Café sessions. There were no statistically significant changes in engagement scores between males & females, ethnic groups, nor education level and employment status. However, the engagements score were higher among clients who have been in the program over two years compare to one year. The group participants identified the drop in nature of the Café and socializing with peer as the mains benefit of the group; they also highlighted the Café helped them coping with their illness. The evaluation of our intervention showed that the Café provided benefits to client’s recovery and facilitated additional engagement in both the recreational and leisure and skill based group streams.