Trial reportBMC psychiatry2021
Experiences and outcomes of group volunteer befriending with patients with severe mental illness: an exploratory mixed-methods study in Colombia.
Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- The effectiveness of volunteer befriending for improving the quality of life of patients with schizophrenia in Bosnia and Herzegovina - an exploratory randomised controlled trial.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2021Trial
- Effects of Social Prescribing for Older Adults: An Evidence and Gap Map.Campbell systematic reviews · 2026Review
- Is befriending a possible intervention in people living with schizophrenia?Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- What clinicians could consider in providing group interventions for people with cognitive impairments: a scoping review.Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society · 2024Article
- Volunteering across contexts: comparing attitudes toward volunteering with prisoners and people with mental illness.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Patients' and volunteer coaches' experiences with an informal social network intervention in forensic psychiatric care: a qualitative analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Is befriending a valuable intervention in schizophrenia? A scoping review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Common patient experiences across three resource-oriented interventions for severe mental illness: a qualitative study in low-resource settings.BMC psychiatry · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundImproving care for patients with severe mental illness in Latin America requires effective strategies that are low-cost. One such strategy is a volunteering scheme, referred to as befriending, which seeks to support the social integration of patients. Despite positive reports in other world regions, this intervention has not been studied in Latin America. Whilst befriending programmes commonly form patient-volunteer dyads, group arrangements may be an alternative with some benefits. Here, we aim to explore the feasibility, experiences and outcomes of a group volunteer befriending intervention for patients with severe mental illness in Colombia.
methodsIn this exploratory non-controlled study, 10 groups of five individuals were formed, each consisting of three individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and two volunteers from the community in Bogotá, Colombia. Each group was encouraged to participate together in social activities within their community over a 6-month period. Patients' quality of life, objective social outcomes, symptom levels and internalised stigma were assessed before and after the intervention. Patients' and volunteers' experiences were explored in semi-structured interviews which were analysed using inductive content analysis.
resultsOutcomes were available for 23 patients. Whilst their objective social situation had significantly improved at the end of the intervention, other outcomes did not show statistically significant differences. The interviews with participants revealed positive experiences which fell into five categories: 1) stigma reduction; 2) personal growth; 3) formation of relationships; 4) continuity and sustainability of befriending; 5) acceptability and feasibility of befriending.
conclusionsA volunteer befriending programme in small groups of two volunteers and three patients is feasible and associated with positive experiences of participants. Such programmes may also improve the objective social situation of patients. This low-cost intervention may be useful for patients with severe mental illnesses in Latin America.
trial registrationISRCTN72241383 (Date of Registration: 04/03/2019, retrospectively registered).
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