Answer to Question 1
2
Clients learn that members of the care team can be relied upon to be consistent, when they set limits and focus on the positive changes that clients are making.
Answer to Question 2
A, B, F
Managing symptoms so that they are less obvious or socially disruptive can reduce negative reactions and reduce rejection due to stigma. Although stigma is a serious and pervasive problem, many persons are less affected by it thanks to public education and positive experiences with persons with SMI. Seeking a more receptive person might be the most expeditious route to housing for this patient. Educating the landlord to reduce stigma might make him more receptive and give the case manager an opportunity to address some of his concerns (e.g., the case manager could arrange a payee to assure that the rent is paid each month). However, threatening a lawsuit would increase the landlord's defensiveness and would likely be a long and expensive undertaking. Further, although it might benefit mentally ill persons as a group, it might not be a helpful solution for this individual patient. Even if successful and handled pro bono, the landlord would likely be inclined to maintain his negative bias against this patient, leading to other problems down the road. Delaying the patient's efforts to become more independent is not clinically necessary according to the data noted here; the problem is the landlord's bias and response, not the patient's illness. It would be unethical to encourage falsification and poor role modeling to do so; further, if falsification is discovered, it could permit the landlord to refuse or cancel her lease.