Affiliations: Early Childhood Development Program, Schneider
Children's Hospital, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, 1983 Marcus
Avenue, Suites E100 & E110, New Hyde Park, NY 11042, USA. E-mail:
jodimassoot@hotmail.com | Department of Physical Therapy, Touro College, 27-33
West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010, USA. E-mail: tamaraea@touro.edu | Department of Occupational Therapy, New York Institute
of Technology, P.O. Box 8000, Old Westbury, NY 11568-8000, USA
Abstract: The purpose of this outcome study is to assess the effectiveness of
one clubhouse program model, Connections Clubhouse. The study was conducted on
117 randomly selected members attending Connections Clubhouse from January 1998
to June 1999. The study examines the effect of attendance rates on members'
employment attainment and status, and on rate of hospitalization recidivism.
Rate of hospitalization recidivism was conceptualized as the difference between
number of hospitalizations after enrollment and before enrollment in the
program. It is hypothesized that adult psychiatric patients, with a high rate
of attendance at Connections Clubhouse, will demonstrate (a) a high rate of
employment attainment and more advanced employment status; and (b) a low rate
of hospitalization recidivism as compared to those with a low attendance rate.
As hypothesized, the proportion of members with a high rate of attendance with
no employment of any kind was significantly lower than the proportion of
members with a low rate of attendance. Though less pronounced, the proportion
of members with a high rate of attendance holding a more advanced employment
status was significantly higher than the proportion of members with a low rate
of attendance. As expected, the recidivism rate of members with a high rate of
attendance was significantly lower than for members with a low rate of
attendance.
