Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Speaking up: how family members advocate for relatives living with a mental illness. community
- Author:
- SCHAFFER Marjorie A.
- Journal article citation:
- Community Mental Health Journal, 57(8), 2021, pp.1547-1555.
- Publisher:
- Springer
Consumers with a mental health condition often feel powerless and overwhelmed in interactions with mental healthcare providers. Consumer self-advocacy and advocacy actions undertaken by their family members on the behalf of their relative contribute to a sense of empowerment for both consumers and their family members. This qualitative study explored family member perspectives of advocacy actions they took on behalf of their relatives and themselves. Data analysis of interviews with 20 family members, including parents, partners/spouses, siblings, and adult children, yielded three themes of family member advocacy actions: advocating for a relative’s mental healthcare, normalizing mental illness, and engaging in social and political actions. Advocacy frameworks offer useful guidelines for speaking up for individuals who live with a mental illness. (Edited publisher abstract)
Informal caregiving in schizophrenia: correlates and predictors of perceived rewards
- Authors:
- STANLEY Selwyn, BALAKRISHNAN Sujeetha
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Mental Health, 19(3), 2021, pp.230-247.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental illness that has repercussions for the afflicted individual as well as the immediate family. While family caregiving entails enormous burden, it is also acknowledged that the experience may be perceived as being rewarding. This study seeks to understand key aspects of caregiving in terms of perceived rewards, the experience of hope, and the social support available to family caregivers. Standardized instruments to assess these variables were administered to primary caregivers of people with schizophrenia and a comparative group. It was seen that both hope, and perceived social support significantly predicted reward perception in the caregivers. (Edited 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)
The effects of mental illness on families within faith communities
- Authors:
- ROGERS Edward B., STANFORD Matthew, GARLAND Diana R.
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Religion and Culture, 15(3), 2012, pp.301-313.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
It is understood that families are negatively affected when a member has a mental illness. This study investigated the experiences and values of families caring for a mentally ill loved one within the context of a Christian faith community. Almost 6,000 participants in 24 churches representing four Protestant denominations completed a survey describing their family's stresses, strengths, faith practices, and desires for assistance from the congregation. Findings showed mental illness in 27% of families, with those families reporting twice as many stressors on average. Families with mental illness present scored lower on measures of family strength and faith practices. Help with mental illness was a priority for those families affected by it, but ignored by others in the congregation. These findings indicate that mental illness is not only prevalent in church communities, but is accompanied by significant distress that often goes unnoticed. The authors concluded that partnerships between mental health providers and congregations may help to raise awareness in the church community.
Family systems and mental health issues: a resilience approach
- Authors:
- COHEN Lynne, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work Practice, 25(1), March 2011, pp.109-125.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This study aimed to understand resilience in people who live with or support a family member with a mental illness. Participants from the Community Link and Network Western Australia (CLAN WA), including 1 male and 14 females, took part in semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed eight recurring themes which indicated the challenges the carers faced and provided indications of the positive and negative personal, family and social factors that impacted on their lives. The themes were: getting to the CLAN WA; accessing help including CLAN WA; impact of living with a person who has a mental illness or problematic behaviour; family and cultural issues; communication within the family; coping strategies and evidence of resilience; social support; and the notion of sacrifice. While there is still considerable work to do in supporting people who live with or support a family member, the authors concluded that individuals living with mental health problems can do more than just survive the process.
Modelling the contribution of changes in family life to time trends in adolescent conduct problems
- Authors:
- COLLISHAW Stephan, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 65(12), December 2007, pp.2576-2587.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
The past half-century has seen significant changes in family life, including an increase in parental divorce, increases in the numbers of lone parent and stepfamilies, changes in socioeconomic well being, and a decrease in family size. Evidence also shows substantial time trends in adolescent mental health, including a marked increase in conduct problems over the last 25 years of the 20th Century in the UK. The aim of this study was to examine how these two sets of trends may be related. To illustrate the complexity of the issues involved, the study focused on three well-established family risks for conduct problems: family type, income and family size. Three community samples of adolescents from England, Scotland and Wales were compared: 10,348 16-year olds assessed in 1974 as part of the National Child Development Study, 7234 16-year olds assessed in 1986 as part of the British Cohort Study, and 860 15-year olds assessed in the 1999 British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey. Parents completed comparable ratings of conduct problems in each survey and provided information on family type, income and size. Findings highlight important variations in both the prevalence of these family variables and their associations with conduct problems over time, underscoring the complex conceptual issues involved in testing causes of trends in mental health.
Effects of home on the mental health of British forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan
- Authors:
- MULLIGAN Kathleen, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Psychiatry, 201(3), September 2012, pp.193-198.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Most studies of the mental health of UK armed forces are retrospective. However, the Operational Mental Health Needs Evaluation (OMHNE) surveys of personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan took place during deployment. This study analyses the data collected to examine the influence of factors related to home and family life on the mental health of UK armed forces. A total of 2042 British forces personnel were included in the study. Prevalence of common mental disorders was assessed with the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and post-traumatic stress disorder with the PTSD Checklist – Civilian version (PCL-C). The prevalence of common mental disorders was 17.8% and of probable PTSD was 2.8%. Perceived home difficulties significantly influenced the mental health of deployed personnel in proportion to the degree of difficulty. This finding was independent of combat exposure and only partially mitigated by being well led and reporting subjectively good unit cohesion; however, the effect of the totality of home-front events was not improved by the latter. Poor perceived military support for the family had a detrimental impact on deployment mental health. The armed forces offer many support services to the families of deployed personnel and, it is suggested, ensuring that the efforts being made on their behalf are well communicated might improve the mental health of deployed personnel.
“Who believes most in me and in my recovery”: the importance of families for persons with serious mental illness living in structured community housing
- Authors:
- PIAT Myra, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work in Disability and Rehabilitation, 10(1), January 2011, pp.49-65.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
As primary carers for people with psychiatric disabilities, families are being increasingly recognised for their potential role in fostering mental health and well-being. This article reports qualitative findings on the role of family in supporting recovery for 40 mental health consumers living in structured, community housing in a large Canadian city. Despite living separately from families and heavily relying on formal services, residents identified their families more often than mental health professionals, friends, and residential caregivers as those who most believe in them and their recovery. Families supported recovery by providing affection and belonging, offering emotional and instrumental support, and by staying actively involved with residents. They were a vital resource for social workers in promoting independent living. The authors concluded that the current exclusion of families in the planning and delivery of housing services for this population should change. Social workers should incorporate families in planning process from the outset.
An exploratory study of the impact of an adolescent's eating disorder on Chinese parents' well-being, marital life and perceived family functioning in Shenzhen, China: implications for social work practice
- Author:
- MA Joyce L. C.
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Family Social Work, 16(1), February 2011, pp.33-42.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The symptoms of eating disorders can have a spillover effect on the well-being of family members, particularly on parents. This paper reports on an exploratory study conducted in Shenzhen, China on how an eating disorder in an adolescent or adult child in the family affects the parents' well-being, quality of marital life and the perceived family functioning. Out of 33 patients suffering from eating disorders and referred for family treatment to the city’s Nanshan Hospital, 18 mothers and 15 fathers from 20 families participated in this study. The data were gathered using a standardised questionnaire comprising 3 measures: the Symptom Check-List-90-R; the Dyadic Adjustment Scale; and the Family Assessment Device. The results show that the parents' well-being was negatively affected, especially for the mothers, whose self-reported depression and anxiety levels were higher than the fathers'. The parents also perceived family functioning to be less satisfactory since the onset of the disorder, with least satisfaction reported on Affective Involvement, Affective Responsiveness, and Roles and Behaviour Control. However, the onset had no negative effect on the parents' marital life. Implications of the study for social work practice are discussed.
Psychosocial factors affecting adults with intellectual disabilities with psychiatric disorders in Cali, Colombia
- Authors:
- VERDUGO Miguel Angel, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 6(3), September 2009, pp.173-179.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The objective of this study was to describe the psychosocial factors associated with the comorbidity between intellectual disability (ID) and psychiatric disorder of adults in the city of Cali, Colombia. Subjects were 50 dyads consisting of a carer and a person with ID. The Caregivers Questionnaire and the Integral Quality of Life Scale were adapted for use in the study. The analysis of information was based on three factors: person, family, and society. In the case of the personal factor, an adequate level of physical well-being and a good level of self-care were found in more than 60% of the adults with dual diagnosis, good adherence to treatment in 82%, and medium satisfaction in the individual-context relationship in 54%. With regard to the family factor, a high level of satisfaction of needs (84%) was found. Good family functioning was observed in 86%, while family participation in rehabilitation was reported to be between moderate and deficient in 60% of the cases. With respect to the social factor, cases of support between moderate and deficient were found in 68%, and a regular inclusion was observed in 48%. The authors conclude that the family functioning aspect appeared as the major protective factor, while the inclusion and social support were shown as the main risk factors.