[Sociotherapy in German social law. Indication, contents, and aspects of public health]

Abstract

In German mental health services, the ill-defined term "sociotherapy" has been used to designate nonmedical, social, and work-related components of the care process. Recently, a new component of outpatient/community mental health care called "sociotherapy" (according to Paragraph 37a of the Fifth German Social Code) which is funded by the public health insurance system has been introduced and is now in the process of being implemented. The paper describes (a) patients eligible for the service and (b) the aims and scope of this case management module. The key objectives are to motivate patients with schizophrenia to utilise mental health services and antipsychotic medication and to liaise with psychosocial services. Therefore, sociotherapy is distinct from (a) multidisciplinary inpatient care for people with severe mental illness, (b) assertive community treatment, (c) community care provided by social workers or community psychiatric nurses, and (d) family interventions. So far there has been little evaluation of sociotherapy.