Open Access
Subscription Access
Open Access
Subscription Access
Empowerment of Caregivers of Persons with Schizophrenia:A Group Psychoeducational Intervention
Subscribe/Renew Journal
Schizophrenia is an enigmatic mental disorder affecting 1 % of the general population at any given time in any society. The disabling nature and chronicity of the illness mandates long-term course of treatment and care. In the recent decades mental health service delivery is undergoing a wide shift from institutionalization to community based care. This vests home-based care for the person with Schizophrenia on caregivers and seeks for their empowerment on effective caring. To study the effectiveness of a group psychoeducational intervention for caregivers of persons with Schizophrenia. The study employed a before and after without control research design where 120 caregivers of persons with Schizophrenia were recruited using purposive sampling technique. The participants were assessed using Knowledge about Schizophrenia Interview (KASI) and Family Attitude Questionnaire (FAQ) before and after the group intervention which focused on dissemination of information regarding the illness and other psychosocial inputs. The knowledge about diagnosis, symptoms, etiology, medication, course, prognosis and management were found to be improved significantly (t=56.33, p<.000) after the psychoeducational intervention. The participants were found to have a significant decrease in the way the caregivers expressed their critical comments, hostility, dissatisfaction and emotional over involvement. They were able to show a higher level of warmth (t-62.96, p<.000) after the intervention. Caring for a person with schizophrenia is highly challenging and it might result in a negative emotional atmosphere in the patient's family. The results prove that a periodic group psychoeducation intervention along with ongoing pharmacotherapy would be beneficial in providing better care for persons with schizophrenia.
Keywords
Schizophrenia, Caregivers, Group Psychoeducational Intervention.
User
Subscription
Login to verify subscription
Font Size
Information
- Alicia, M. M., & Kevin, R. R. (2008). Providing information to relatives and patients about expressed emotion and schizophrenia in a community. Clinical Schizophrenia and Related Psychoses, 2(1) 47-58.
- Barrowclough, C, Tarrier, N., Watts, S., Vaughn, C, Bamrah, J.S., & Freeman, H.L. (1987). Assessing the functional value of relatives' knowledge about schizophrenia: A preliminary report. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1-8.
- Bauml, J., Frobose, T, Kraemer, S., Rentrop, M., & Pitschel-Walz, G. (2006). Psychoeducation: A basic psychotherapeutic intervention for patients with schizophrenia and their families. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 32(1), S1-S9.
- Bharat, S. (1995). Issues in care and support. The Indian Journal of Social Work, 6, 177-193.
- Caqueo-Urizar, A., & Gutierrez-Maldonado, J. (2006). Burden of care in families of patients with schizophrenia. Quality of Life Res, 15, 719-724.
- Cassidy, E., Hill, S., & O'Callaghan, E. (2001). Efficacy of a psychoeducational intervention in improving relatives knowledge about schizophrenia and reducing rehospitaliseition. European Psychiatry, 16,446-450.
- Chan, S., Yip, B., Tso, S., Cheng, B.S., & Tarn, W. (2009). Evaluation of a psychoeducation program for Chinese clients with schizophrenia and their family caregivers. Patient Education and Counseling, 75, 67-76.
- Chien, W. T, Chan, S., & Morrissey, J. (2007). The perceived burden among Chinese family caregivers of people with schizophrenia. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 16, 1151-1161.
- Gelder, M., Lopez-Ibor, J.J., & Andreasen, N. (Eds.), (1996). Oxford textbook of psychiatry. Oxford: Oxford University press.
- Glick, D.I., Burti, L., Okonogi, K, & Sacks, M. (1994). Effectiveness in psychiatric care. III. Psychoeducation and outcome for patients with major affective disorder and their families. British Journal of Psychiatry, 164(1), 104-106.
- Murthy, R.S. (2006). Together we rise: Kshema family power. In R.S. Murthy (Ed.). Mental health by the people. Peoples Action for Mental Health (PAMH), Bangalore.
- Nishio, M., Horiuchi, K, Ohno, T, Makio, K, & Ohara, S. (2002). Research on the effect evaluation of family education of schizophrenia using KASI. Annual Report of the Research on Nervous and Mental Disorder, Kochi, Japan.
- Paranthaman, V, Satnam, K, Lim, J.L., Amar-Singh, H.S., Sararaks, S., Nafiza, M.N.. Ranjit, K., & Asmah, Z.A. (2010). Effective implementation of a structured psychoeducation programme among caregivers of patients with schizophrenia in the community. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 3(4), 206-212.
- Rammohan, A., Rao, K., & Subbakrishna, D.K. (2002). Burden and coping in caregivers of persons with schizophrenia. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 44(3), 220-227.
- Sethi, B.B, Charurvedi, P.K, & Trivedi, J.K, & Sethi, N.K. (1985), Attitude of family and outcome in schizophrenia. Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry, 1,186-193.
- Thara, R, Padmavati, R, Aynkran, J.R, & John, S. (2008). Community mental health in India: Arethink. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 2(1), 11.
- Van Os, J, & Kapur, S. (2009). Schizophrenia. Lancet, 374(22), 635-645.
- Viswanathan & Padmavathi (1992). Family interventions in schizophrenia through group sessions: An experimental study. Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry, 8, 35.
- Worakul, P, Thavichachart, N, & Lueboonthavatchai, P. (2007). Effects of psychoeducational program on knowledge and attitude upon schizophrenia of schizophrenic patients caregivers. Journal of The Medical Association of Thailand, 90(6), 1199-1207.
Abstract Views: 314
PDF Views: 0