International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Ahead of Print.
Background:People living with schizophrenia (PLS) suffer frequent relapse accompanied by emergency room visits, premature mortality, lower quality of life and a substantial social and economic burden on families and health systems. There is a dearth of community-based relapse prevention interventions (RPIs) in Iran.Aims:To determine an ideal model for a community-based RPIs for PLS.Methods:A qualitative study with 27 experts in Iran was carried out to understand the ideal RPIs for PLS and the key components of such interventions.Results:In 16 semi-structured interviews and 8 group-discussions, the participants identified six major stages of family and community-based RPIs including preparation, social mobilization, local team formation, design an RPI, implementing the RPI, participatory monitoring, and evaluation of the RPI.Conclusions:Given the suboptimal healthcare systems and lack of professionals and services, PLS in Iran may benefit from family and community-based RPIs. Our findings warrant pilot testing of such initiatives across developing communities like Iran to improve health outcomes of PLS.