Abstract
Severe mental disorder is more likely to be accompanied by cognitive impairment, especially in schizo- phrenia, where general cognitive decline is often observed. Decline in cognitive functioning leads to difficulties in employment situations and daily life, and causes stress, which is indirectly related to the deterioration of the medical condition. In short, cognitive impairment has also been associated with clinical outcomes. Recently, cog- nitive rehabilitation programs such as NEAR(Neuropsychological Educational Approach to Cognitive Remedia- tion)and VCAT-J(Vocational Cognitive Ability Training by Jcores)have been implemented. Our group created a program called “Manabiba” based on them. In this program, patients completed VCAT-J training procedures using the software of the Japanese Cognitive Rehabilitation Program for Schizophrenia (Jcores). VCAT-J training consists of twice weekly, hour-long computerized training sessions using Jcores and weekly, hour-long group ses- sions over 12 weeks. In computerized training sessions, participants were presented with tasks related to the six domains of attention, working memory, motor speed, verbal memory, verbal fluency, and executive function. In group sessions, attention, concentration, and memory were mainly discussed, with reference to metacognition for generalization to daily life. At the beginning and end of the program, participants were assessed for cognitive functioning using the brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia Japanese version(BACS-J)and other cogni- tive assessments, as well as the Assessment of motor and process skills(AMPS), and self-efficacy assessments. In this presentation, we will be discussing the usefulness of the program from multiple perspectives, focusing not only on the numerical changes in assessments but also on the qualitative changes in the participants.
https://ror.org/0059h1f24 
