Akershus University Hospital, Department of Research and Development, Lørenskog, Norway.
Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2011;32(11):703-10. doi: 10.3109/01612840.2011.598606.
Relatives of persons with severe mental illness experience burden and straining changes in their lives that put their health at risk. Consequently, they need support from health professionals. The aim of this study was to describe experiences from encounters with mental health services as seen from the point of view of relatives of persons with severe mental illness. A qualitative, explorative study was performed, based on two open-ended questions in a cross-sectional study of relatives' health, burden, and sense of coherence (n = 216). A manifest qualitative content analysis was used to describe the relatives' experiences. The findings show that some relatives had experienced positive encounters with health personnel, but the majority of experiences reported were negative. The encounters can be summarized into one main category: "Left Alone with Straining but Inescapable Responsibilities." Two categories emerged: "Striving for Involvement for the Sake of the Mentally Ill Person," and "Wanting Inclusion for the Sake of Oneself." There is a gap between relatives' needs for support in order to handle their own situation in relation to their mentally ill next of kin, and what they actually receive from the mental health services. The findings suggest that health professionals should collaborate with and support these relatives.
严重精神疾病患者的亲属在生活中承受着负担和压力的变化，这使他们的健康处于危险之中。因此，他们需要卫生专业人员的支持。本研究的目的是从严重精神疾病患者亲属的角度描述他们对精神卫生服务的体验。这是一项基于横断面研究中亲属健康、负担和应对感的两个开放式问题的定性、探索性研究（n=216）。采用明显的定性内容分析法来描述亲属的体验。研究结果表明，一些亲属曾有过与卫生人员的积极接触，但报告的大多数经历都是负面的。这些接触可以归纳为一个主要类别：“独自承受负担，但不可避免的责任”。出现了两个类别：“为了精神疾病患者的利益而努力参与”和“为了自己的利益而想要包容”。亲属为了处理自己与精神病亲属的情况而需要支持，而他们实际从精神卫生服务中得到的支持之间存在差距。研究结果表明，卫生专业人员应该与这些亲属合作并为他们提供支持。
