Paper
Saturday, July 24, 2004
Effects of a Mutual Support Group for Chinese Family Caregivers of People With Schizophrenia: A 6 Month Follow-Up
Wai-Tong Chien, MPhil(CUHK), RMN, Sally Chan, PhD, RMN, RNT, and Jean Morrissey, MSc, RMN, RGN. The Nethersole School of Nursing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong
| Learning Objective #1: Understand the therapeutic effects of a mutual support group intervention for families of people with schizophrenia |
| Learning Objective #2: Recognise the role of a psychiatric nurse in design and facilitation of a family support group |
Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of a mutual support group with a psycho-educational group and the standard care for families of schizophrenic patients. Design: An experimental repeated-measures design, compared three family carer groups: mutual support (n = 32) and psycho-educational (n = 33) and standard care (n = 31) group. Sample & setting. Participants were selected randomly from two outpatient clinics in Hong Kong. There were 300 outpatients with schizophrenia who fitted the inclusion criteria; they were selected randomly from the patient list. 96 caregivers voluntarily participated and were randomly assigned to study groups. Interventions and outcomes: Three intervention modalities were compared: (a) a 12-session mutual support group employing social support and problem solving principles; (b) a 12-session psycho-educational program began with didactic presentation, followed by group discussion; and (c) conventional services provided by the clinics. Multiple patient and family outcomes were measured using a structured questionnaire. Methods: Outcome data were compared between groups immediately and six-months following intervention on an intention-to-treated basis, using repeated-measures ANOVA. Findings: Mutual support group demonstrated more significant positive changes in family burden, functioning and service utilization in the follow-up, when compared to the other groups. Patients’ level of functioning and hospital stay in mutual support group were also better improved in the follow-up. Conclusions: This mutual support group appears to be a good model of a novel psychosocial intervention within the standard mental health services for schizophrenia and results in measurable clinical benefits to these Chinese patients and their families. Implications: Findings warrant further empirical investigation of this intervention model, preferably with Chinese family caregivers from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. The authors thank the support by the Health Care and Promotion Fund, Hospital Authority Hong Kong (#216020) for the study and Shaw College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong for attending this conference.
Back to Families and Chronic Illness
Back to 15th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004