The Lived -Experience Of Family Caregivers Of Relatives With Psychiatric Illness

Nuraizah, Mohd Yusof (2005) The Lived -Experience Of Family Caregivers Of Relatives With Psychiatric Illness. [Final Year Project Report] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The deinstitutionalization of patients with psychiatric illness has become one of the treatment approaches in mental health because of its many advantages. Therefore, most of the care is performed by the family caregivers. The objective of this study is to explore and describe the experience of family caregivers in caring for their family members who has been diagnosed with psychiatric illness at home. Four interviews have been conducted with all female participants, aged between 43 and 74 years old. An audio taped recorder was used to record all the interviews after explanation and consent was taken. A face-to-face interview were conducted at the participants' home using open ended questions and took about 45 to 60 minutes. A phenomenological method of analysis based on Giorgi's research method is used to analyze the interviews in this qualitative research. Five main categories were identified from the data: initial caregiver's experience, caregiver's illness understanding, caregiver's psychological experience, caregiver's coping mechanism and caregiver's experience with social support. The conclusion highlights the important to recognize the family caregivers' role by understanding the experience living and caring for their ill relatives. The professionals' especially mental health nurses should establish good relationship and collaborate with the family caregivers about their knowledge and skills in management. for the patient with psychiatric illness.

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