Cognitive Remediation to Facilitate Independent Living in Persons With Serious Mental Illness.

Staff added a 12-week brain-training class inside two locked residential units.

One unit held adults found not guilty by reason of insanity; the other held civil patients.

Everyone had a serious mental illness plus low scores on memory and planning tests.

Classes met three times a week and used computer games, role play, and real-life tasks like budgeting.

Almost every resident tried the class—97 % showed up.

Two-thirds finished all lessons.

Six months later, 63 % of civil patients and 55 % of forensic patients moved to less locked housing.

No one got re-hospitalized during follow-up.

DeLeon et al. (2005) ran a large trial of assertive community treatment in the same kind of units and saw no extra gains.

TSL looks like an update: same goal—step-down housing—but adds brain drills instead of more case management.

Oliver et al. (2002) showed that staff training alone helps only residents without mental illness.

TSL fills that gap by teaching residents directly, so even those with psychosis can progress.

Castelloe et al. (1993) warned that self-management tricks rarely travel outside the classroom.

TSL baked practice into real chores, echoing that advice.

If you work in a locked facility, you now have a ready-made curriculum that halves the wait for community placement.

You don’t need extra staff—occupational therapists ran the class in the study.

Start with a brief cognitive screener, then slot residents into the three-day schedule.

Track housing moves; the data give administrators clear value for money.