This article aims are to present ways in which social functioning of people with schizophrenia can be improved, and mental well-being increased. The paper presents problems of life that mentally ill people can meet during daily activities and ways of solving them. The article begins with a brief definition of the said psychiatric disease. Then, the author highlights two complementary methods of coping with the disease and its consequences: the medical model, which is based on pharmacological treatment, and the psychiatric rehabilitation model based on environmental treatment. The second model is the main focus of this article. It has shorter history than psychotropic treatment. It is worth looking through, presents its main assumptions and emphasizes its enormous impact on improving daily life of people who suffer from schizophrenia The article proposes a sequential program of rehabilitation. It also stressed the major role of nurses in improving schizophrenics patients’ quality of life.

Key words: mentally ill persons, schizophrenia, rehabilitation.