• Six clients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were interviewed about their experiences of their lives in a home-like setting, their key care provider and the care received.
• Their narratives of lived experiences in care were interpreted as living a process of health in the midst of severe mental illness, involving: 'becoming more', 'being disabled', 'comforting/confirming relationship', 'discomforting/unconfirming relationship' and 'caring about the caring relationship'.
• Fatigue and lack of strength influenced the lives of most clients considerably, and the stories were about problems and conflicts. Nevertheless, the clients seemed really to struggle to make communal life work, and there were experiences of increased competence and better self-confidence in most of the stories.
• On the whole care was described as good, and the process of health seemed to be supported by experiences of comfort and being confirmed in the client–care provider relationship.