title: Caring for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness: the contributions and challenges of residential case aides.
abstract: The challenge of helping individuals with mental illness live more independently and purposefully within the community warrants a collaborative system of caregiving between professional and paraprofessional caregivers. Residential community support aides are a crucial component of this system of care. However, current investigation of their daily work experiences is lacking. In this study, a team of researchers, employing an interpretive phenomenological approach, analyzed data from in-depth, individual interviews with 5 residential community support aides and identified a constitutive pattern: the teacher as learner. Examination of this pattern and its associated themes will identify those clinical practices that should be preserved and those that are in need of change.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rohde
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nehls
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007587:Job Description; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000451:nursing*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011566:Psychiatric Aides / Q000523:psychology*; D012114:Residential Treatment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires