Southern Hills’
Rehabilitative Day Treatment Program (RDT) operates to help consumers optimize
their personal, social, and vocational abilities to live more successfully in
the communities.
RDT is designed to help consumers make their lives work better by relieving
psychological distress and assisting consumers in their efforts to achieve and
maintain changes in their life circumstances. Consumers have the greatest
opportunity for growth in an environment that seeks to normalize rather than
institutionalize. RDT looks for opportunities to establish a therapeutic
community in which consumers take responsibility both for themselves and the
functioning of the group. This both reduces the individual’s symptoms and
provides them opportunities to learn different attitudes and behaviors to apply
in their own living situations.
The goal of RDT is to enhance the consumer’s potential to achieve their highest
level of functioning in his/her personal, social, and vocational activities in
the least restrictive setting. This is achieved in part through enhancing the
consumer’s understanding of his/her psychiatric disabilities and ability to cope
with these disabilities. The program provides skill-building opportunities in
activities of daily living, provides socialization activities and ideas for
activities during leisure time to improve interpersonal skills and
relationships, assists with vocational development, and advocates for the
consumer to help insure that he/she receives all of the services and benefits to
which they are entitled. Staff work with consumers to arrange for their basic
needs including income, food, clothing, household goods, shelter, housing
subsidies, and medical, dental, and vision benefits. They also work with the
consumers to access educational programs and other medical and mental health
services.
Family members, with the permission of the consumer, are invited to participate
in the program also by attending evening activities and educational programs on
a regular basis. Family members are also encouraged, with permission from the
consumer, to attend case conferences which are held every three months.