A study on family and caregiver support to psychiatric patients in Katutura: A psychiatric social work perspective
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Date
2002
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
De-institutionalization brought with it a shift in the care taking of psychiatric patients from institutional care to community care. As a result, people with mental illnesses have to rely on families for support and care. Existing literature in the field of psychiatry tend to over concentrate on the well-being of the mentally ill, while the experiences of caregivers are understudied. This exploratory study was designed to investigate family and caregivers support to psychiatric patients. The objectives of this study were to determine the nature and extent of family support which psychiatric patients receive, investigated the need for family and caregivers support amongst psychiatric patients, and also searched for options to improve family and caregiver support. The purposive sample method was employed to select fourty- five family caregiver of psychiatric patients who lives in Katutura. The hospital files of all the psychiatric patients whose families formed part of the sample was studied, contact details of the family caregivers as well as some background information of the ill person was recorded. A structured interview schedule consisting of both closed and open-ended questions was used as an instrument for data collection, and in-depth interviews took place with family caregivers. Other methods of data collection were focus group discussions as well as discussions with key informants. A pilot study was undertaken before the actual data collection with the sample population. The data were processed manually and are presented in tables, graphs and charts. The findings indicate that families provide in the basic needs of the mentally ill person, such as shelter, food and clothing. Families were less likely to provide in emotional support to the mentally ill. The study also found that family caregivers do not have much contact with mental health professionals, and they lack knowledge on mental illness. The results suggest that the relationship between mental health professionals and family caregivers need to be strengthened in order to address the needs of family caregivers. Effective intervention by mental health professionals should focus on both the family and the mentally ill, and should be based on a positive attitude towards the family caregivers of psychiatric patient. Education campaigns to people with mental illnesses, family caregivers and the community at large need to be embarked upon. Further studies on family and caregiver support need to investigate the family caregivers of mentally ill patients who have been diagnosed with a specific mental illness.
Description
Submitted to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in accordance with the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Arts
Keywords
caregiver support, Psychiatric patients, Katutura