People who have a family member with an enduring mental illness feel socially isolated and want greater support from the community health services, new research has found.
The study by the Health Research Board (HRB), which was based on interviews with 38 participants from the Dublin area, all closely related to people with mental illness for two or more years, found that most participants reported a lack of knowledge about mental illness and a dearth of information of how to best support relatives during treatment and recovery.
Relatives saw information as a coping tool and knowledge of how to treat the illness helped reduce a feeling of anxiety.
The initial encounter for many people was the most difficult period, with many feeling there was a lack of understanding, practical advice or an appropriate response from the services.
At the discharge stage, families felt there was a lack of follow-up services available. Most felt that rehabilitation of their relative was not actively promoted by mental health services, while integration back into the community was made difficult by public perceptions of mental illness.
HRB researcher Yulia Kartalova-O'Doherty said: "Participants felt that without support from the wider community, rehabilitation would be more difficult for their relative."
She said the Government's 10-year blueprint for development of mental health services, A Vision for Change, identified the key role of family and friends in the care of people with a mental illness. She said said we needed to shift the focus from inpatient care to community care, with a variety of services available to help families and their relatives.
One participant said: "The Government needs to spend money on a public relations campaign to rehabilitate mental health. I think if they explained to people the nature of mental illness, that people recover, that there is a professional back-up service there and when people are on the road to recovery, that they're not going to be trouble in the communities, it would make the whole idea of community care much easier."
Participants reported differences in the quality of private and public services and supports. Public services were seen as providing more personalised and approachable contacts for families, better information and follow-up support. However, there was a lack of support in the form of community nurses, psychologists and social workers in both private and public services.