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Family involvement: The key to opening locked wards and closed minds
Author(s) -
Jubb Maureen,
Shanley Eamon
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.911
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1447-0349
pISSN - 1445-8330
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-0979.2002.00225.x
Subject(s) - blueprint , nursing , unit (ring theory) , psychology , mental health , mentally ill , family reunification , medicine , psychiatry , mental illness , political science , mechanical engineering , mathematics education , engineering , immigration , law
: Treatment under the traditional medical model has largely ignored the family’s knowledge, expertise and potential therapeutic effects on hospitalized mentally ill people. This paper reviews the family’s role as caregiver. It reports on an evaluation of services by caregivers. Its findings reflect views stated in other surveys in identifying the need for improvement in education and social support for families, greater family involvement in the patient’s care and improvement in staff attitudes towards families. The study concludes by describing the development of a family support project in a Nursing Practice Development Unit in a secure ward and offers a blueprint for mental health nurses in facilitating the more active involvement of families in the recovery of their family members.