Caregiving stress and burden of family members in caring for a relative with schizophrenia and their intervention

Wai Tong Chien

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceedingChapter in an edited book (as author)Academic researchpeer-review

Abstract

A review was undertaken to assess the relative effectiveness of different modes of family intervention for family carers of people suffering from schizophrenia and is presented in this chapter. A literature search was undertaken to fill in gaps in the knowledge of the psychological distress and burden encountered by these family carers and whether family intervention (involving different kinds of psychosocial interventions for family carers) can help these carers improve their caregiving and psychological wellbeing. A broad range of electronic bibliographic databases in medicine, health care, nursing, psychology and social sciences (e.g., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Embase, Medline, DARE, Ovid, PsycINFO, and Social Sciences Citation Index) were searched from 1985 - 2007 and the searches were restricted to English language. The results highlight that there have been an increasing attention of the family carers' distress and burden among these mentally ill clients, as well as the number of research studies and controlled trials of family intervention. The findings of these studies have established a more sound evidence base on the effect of family environment, particularly inducing life stressors and burden, on both mentally ill clients and their family members. Family-focused intervention for these clients should be carefully designed and implemented to meet their health needs.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHandbook of Stress
Subtitle of host publicationCauses, Effects and Control
PublisherNova Science Publishers, Inc.
Pages191-227
Number of pages37
ISBN (Print)9781607418580
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2009

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Social Sciences

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Caregiving stress and burden of family members in caring for a relative with schizophrenia and their intervention'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this