Relationship of community integration of persons with severe mental illness and mental health service intensity

Objective: Community integration is integral to recovery for individuals with severe mental illness. This study explored the integration of individualswith severemental illness into mental health and non-mental health communities and associations with mental health service intensity. Methods: Thirty-three ethnically diverse participantswith severemental illness were categorized in high-intensity (N=18) or low-intensity (N=15) mental health service groups. Community integration was assessed with measures of involvement in community activities, social capital resources, social support, social network maps, and subjective integration. Results: Although participants rated themselves as being more integrated into the mental health community, their social networks and social capital were primarily derived from the non-mental health community. The high-intensity group had a higher proportion of members from the mental health community in their networks and had less overall social capital resources than the low-intensity group. Conclusions: The findings suggest opportunities and possible incongruities in the experience of community integration.