Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Physical health and mental illness: listening to the voice of carers
- Authors:
- HAPPELL Brenda, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 26(2), 2017, pp.134-141.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Background: Shortened life expectancy of people with mental illness is now widely known and the focus of research and policy activity. To date, research has primarily reflected perspectives of health professionals with limited attention to the views and opinions of those most closely affected. The voice of carers is particularly minimal, despite policy stipulating carer participation is required for mental health services. Aim: To present views and opinions of carers regarding physical health of the people they care for. Methods: Qualitative exploratory. Two focus groups and one individual interview were conducted with 13 people identifying as carers of a person with mental illness. Research was conducted in the Australian Capital Territory. Data analysis was based on the thematic framework of Braun and Clarke. Results: Two main themes were interaction between physical and mental health; and, carers’ own physical and mental health. Participants described the impact of mental illness and its treatments on physical health, including their own. Conclusions: Carers are acknowledged as crucial for the delivery of high quality mental health services. Therefore they have an important role to play in addressing the poor physical health of people with mental illness. Hearing their views and opinions is essential. (Publisher abstract)
Caregiver coping with the mentally ill: a qualitative study
- Authors:
- AZMAN Azlinda, SINGH Paramjit Singh Jamir, SULAIMAN Jamallundin
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 26(2), 2017, pp.98-103.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Background: Mental illness is a disease that affects millions of people every year. It not only causes stress to the mentally ill patients, but also for the family members who provide them the care. The family caregivers, therefore need some form of coping strategies in dealing with their mentally ill family members. Aims: This qualitative study aims at identifying and analysing the coping strategies adopted by the family caregivers in dealing with their mentally ill family members. Method: A total of 15 family caregivers from the state of Kedah, Malaysia participated in the face-to-face semi structured interview. Results: The study findings identified an array of coping strategies used by the family caregivers, including religious coping, emotional coping, acceptance, becoming engaged in leisure activities, and the use of traditional healing to help them cope with their mentally ill members. Suggestions and conclusions: Study suggests that the family caregivers should engage themselves in social support groups to learn about and obtain the positive coping strategies used by other caregivers who have similar experiences in caring for the mentally ill. Study also suggests that they should get appropriate training from the mental health professionals in order to enhance the caregivers’ coping skills. (Publisher abstract)
Informal care-giving and mental ill-health: differential relationships by workload, gender, age and area-remoteness in a UK region
- Authors:
- DOEBLER Stefanie, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 25(3), 2017, pp.987-999.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This paper reports on a study carried out in a UK region which investigated the relationship between informal care-giving and mental ill-health. The analysis was conducted by linking three data sets, the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study, the Northern Ireland Enhanced Prescribing Database and the Proximity to Service Index from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. The analysis used both a subjective measure of mental ill-health, i.e. a question asked in the 2011 Census, and an objective measure, whether the respondents had been prescribed antidepressants by a General Practitioner between 2010 and 2012. The study applied binary logistic multilevel modelling to these two responses to test whether, and for what sub-groups of the population, informal care-giving was related to mental ill-health. The results showed that informal care-giving per se was not related to mental ill-health, although there was a strong relationship between the intensity of the care-giving role and mental ill-health. Females under 50, who provided over 19 hours of care, were not employed or worked part-time and who provided care in both 2001 and 2011 were at a statistically significantly elevated risk of mental ill-health. Caregivers in remote areas with limited access to shops and services were also at a significantly increased risk as evidenced by prescription rates for antidepressants. With community care policies aimed at supporting people to remain at home, the paper highlights the need for further research in order to target resources appropriately. (Edited publisher abstract)
The emotional health and well-being of Canadians who care for persons with mental health or addictions problems
- Authors:
- SLAUNWHITE Amanda K., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 25(3), 2017, pp.840-847.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The purpose of this project was to examine the emotional health and well-being of Canadian caregivers of persons with significant mental health or addictions problems. The authors assessed the emotional health of caregivers by care-receiver condition type (i.e. mental health or addictions vs. physical or other health problems), levels of caregiver stress and methods particularly for reducing stress among caregivers of persons with mental health or addictions disorders. Weighted cross-sectional data from the 2012 General Social Survey (Caregiving and Care Receiving) were modelled using weighted descriptive and logistic regression analyses to examine levels of stress and the emotional health and well-being of caregivers by care-receiver condition type. Caregivers of persons with mental health or addictions problems were more likely to report that caregiving was very stressful and that they felt depressed, tired, worried or anxious, overwhelmed; lonely or isolated; short-tempered or irritable; and resentful because of their caregiving responsibilities. The results of this study suggest that mental health and addictions caregivers may experience disparate stressors and require varying services and supports relative to caregivers of persons with physical or other health conditions. (Edited publisher abstract)
Voices unheard: exploring the caregiver experience for caregivers of emerging adults with mental illness
- Authors:
- MILLER Kirsty, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Families in Society, 98(4), 2017, pp.310--18..
- Publisher:
- The Alliance for Children and Families
The purpose of this study was to obtain perspectives from caregivers of emerging adults (ages 16–25) who were accessing mental health care services. Using constructivist grounded theory, nine caregivers participated in focus groups or individual interviews. Results suggest that caregivers' experiences centred on three areas: the emotions that they experienced (having frustration, feeling burdened, not being helped, and perceiving a lack of options), the actions that they took in their caregiver role (care facilitation and advocacy), and the external forces that perpetuated negative emotions and adversely impacted caregiver ability to facilitate and advocate (crisis-driven system, wait times, and substance misuse). Findings illustrate the impact of external forces on caregiver feelings and actions, reflecting a system that perpetuates the cycle of wait times and helplessness. (Publisher abstract)
A pilot randomized trial of two cognitive rehabilitation interventions for mild cognitive impairment: caregiver outcomes
- Authors:
- VUC Andrea V., et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32(12), 2017, pp.e180-e187.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study aims to provide effect size estimates of the impact of two cognitive rehabilitation interventions provided to patients with mild cognitive impairment: computerised brain fitness exercise and memory support system on support partners' outcomes of depression, anxiety, quality of life, and partner burden. Methods: A randomised controlled pilot trial was performed. Results: At 6 months, the partners from both treatment groups showed stable to improved depression scores, while partners in an untreated control group showed worsening depression over 6 months. There were no statistically significant differences on anxiety, quality of life, or burden outcomes in this small pilot trial; however, effect sizes were moderate, suggesting that the sample sizes in this pilot study were not adequate to detect statistical significance. Conclusion: Either form of cognitive rehabilitation may help partners' mood, compared with providing no treatment. However, effect size estimates related to other partner outcomes (i.e., burden, quality of life, and anxiety) suggest that follow-up efficacy trials will need sample sizes of at least 30–100 people per group to accurately determine significance. (Publisher abstract)
Cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease: impact on quality of life of carers
- Authors:
- LAWSON R.A., et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32(12), 2017, pp.1362-1370.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Background: The quality of life (QoL) of informal caregivers of people with Parkinson's disease (PD) (PwP) can be affected by the caring role. Because of cognitive symptoms and diminished activities of daily living, in addition to the management of motor symptoms, carers of PwP and cognitive impairment may experience increased levels of burden and poorer QoL compared with carers of PwP without cognitive impairment. This study aimed to investigate the impact of cognitive impairment in PD upon QoL of carers. Methods: Approximately 36 months after diagnosis, 66 dyadic couples of PwP and carers completed assessments. PwP completed a schedule of neuropsychological assessments and QoL measures; carers of PwP completed demographic questionnaires and assessments of QoL. Factor scores of attention, memory/executive function and global cognition, as derived by principal component analysis, were used to evaluate cognitive domains. Results: Hierarchical regression analysis found lower Montreal Cognitive Assessment was a significant independent predictor of poorer carer QoL, in addition to number of hours spent caregiving, carer depression and PD motor severity. Attentional deficits accounted for the largest proportion of variance of carer QoL. Carers of PwP and dementia (n = 9) had significantly poorer QoL scores compared with PwP and mild cognitive impairment (n = 18) or normal cognition (n = 39) carers (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Attentional deficits were the strongest predictor of carer QoL compared with other cognitive predictors. Carers for those with PD dementia reported the poorest QoL. Interventions such as respite or cognitive behavioural therapy to improve mood and self-efficacy in carers may improve carer QoL. (Publisher abstract)
The state of Shared Lives in England: report 2017
- Author:
- SHARED LIVES PLUS
- Publisher:
- Shared Lives Plus
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Pagination:
- 36
- Place of publication:
- Liverpool
This report draws a survey of Shared Lives schemes in England to provide an analysis of services across England for the period 2015/16. The report provides figures on the numbers of people who use Shared Lives services, the type of arrangements they live in (live-in, short break and day support), the regional breakdown of services, the number and characteristics of carers, and staffing levels. The report finds that the Shared Lives sector has grown by 5 per cent over the past year, with approximately 11880 people being supported in Shared Lives arrangements. People with learning disabilities remained the primary users of the service, making up 71 percent of all users. This is despite a small reduction in the number of people with learning disabilities accessing the service in the previous year. The next largest group getting help from Shared Lives were people with mental health problems, who made up 8 per cent of users. Short case studies are included to illustrate the benefits of Shared Lives schemes. It ends with key learning from the past year and identifies some of the key factors and barriers to the successful expansion of Shared Lives. (Edited publisher abstract)
Exploring the potential for family carers to support people with mental illness to stop smoking
- Authors:
- LAWN Sharon, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Dual Diagnosis, 13(1), 2017, pp.52-59.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Cigarette smoking poses significant health burdens for people with mental illness. They die sooner than they should, and smoking is a major contributor to their high rates of morbid chronic physical health conditions and early mortality, compared to the general population. Family carers provide important support to people with mental illness. However, family carers' perspectives of smoking by their family members with mental illness are largely absent from the research literature and from practice, despite smoking rates remaining high and quit rates remaining low for this population. Little is known about how family carers are or could be involved in supporting people with mental illness who smoke to stop smoking. This paper aims to provide a discussion of the opportunities for family carers to support their family member's smoking cessation and a discussion of our preliminary research on this topic. From the available literature, it appears that family carers are well placed to support smoking cessation for this population; however, they struggled physically, philosophically, and emotionally with perceived responsibilities involving their family member's smoking and the caring role. They felt isolated and asserted that there was limited support from service providers to assist them. The authors concluded that family carers are important agents within the person's immediate environment who could help them to improve their smoking cessation success. This suggests also that mental health services and other health service providers could benefit from including family carers in their efforts to support smoking cessation for people with mental illness who smoke. (Edited publisher abstract)
Personal and relational empowerment: a framework for family recovery
- Authors:
- BUCKLEY-WALKER Kellie, CROWE Trevor P., CAPUTI Peter
- Journal article citation:
- Advances in Dual Diagnosis, 10(1), 2017, pp.25-38.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: Caring for a person with a substance use disorder (SUD) and/or mental health disorder (MHD) represents a significant burden for family members. The features of “carers/family members” experiences reflect trauma signatures. Consequently, working through this trauma for carers corresponds with psychological recovery, empowerment processes and intrapersonal/interpersonal needs. The purpose of this paper is to outline a framework called the “personal and relational empowerment (PRE)” framework which enables family support practitioners to help family members to be able to take control of their own lives, develop meaningful relationships and live purposeful and fulfilling lives, regardless of whether the person with the SUD and/or MHD is in recovery or not. Design/methodology/approach: This paper critically reviews existing frameworks for carer recovery, through a systematic literature search, and proposes a “PRE” alternative to redress the shortfalls in these existing frameworks. Findings: The PRE framework takes a multi-level needs-based approach to understand carer recovery. This framework links the concepts – psychological recovery, empowerment processes and intrapersonal/interpersonal needs. Practical implications: The PRE framework recognises the importance of recovery support practitioners being able to balance the immediate carer crisis intervention needs responses with personal growth and well-being supporting interventions. Originality/value: The PRE framework of family recovery attempts to answer the need to broaden the focus on the family journey to better reflect the principles and practices of contemporary SUD and/or MHD recovery-based support. (Publisher abstract)