Levasseur Mary A, Ferrari Manuela, McIlwaine Sarah, Iyer Srividya N
Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada.
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Early Interv Psychiatry. 2019 Apr;13(2):335-341. doi: 10.1111/eip.12771. Epub 2018 Dec 11.
This paper aims to advance our understanding of the experience of participating in peer support groups for family members of persons with psychosis and to expand the scant body of literature on peer support in the context of early intervention services for psychosis. Such an examination is relevant because the implementation and uptake of family-focused interventions remain inconsistent in early intervention services, despite their proven benefits.
To enable family caregivers to support one another, a family peer support project was initiated at an early intervention service for psychosis in Montreal, Canada. A family peer support provider and researchers collaboratively designed and conducted this study to examine the experience of those who participated in family peer support groups. Forty-four family members completed an English or French online questionnaire. Thematic analysis was used to code responses to open-ended questions to unpack crucial elements of this peer support intervention.
Three key themes were identified-the impact of psychosis on families; understanding and coping with psychosis through family peer support; and improving family peer support services. Mutual support through sharing experiences; gains in knowledge of the illness and its treatment; emotional support; and increased caregiving and self-care capacities and skills were identified as critical benefits of family peer support.
Family peer support can be an acceptable and cherished means of engaging and sustaining families and enhancing their caregiving skills. Its integration into early intervention services holds the promise of helping promote recovery and reducing caregiver burden.
本文旨在增进我们对精神疾病患者家属参与同伴支持小组经历的理解，并拓展在精神病早期干预服务背景下关于同伴支持的少量文献。这样的研究很有意义，因为尽管以家庭为中心的干预措施已被证明有益，但在早期干预服务中，其实施和采用情况仍不一致。
为使家庭照顾者能够相互支持，在加拿大蒙特利尔的一项精神病早期干预服务中启动了一个家庭同伴支持项目。一名家庭同伴支持提供者和研究人员合作设计并开展了这项研究，以考察参与家庭同伴支持小组的人员的经历。44名家庭成员完成了一份英文或法文在线问卷。采用主题分析法对开放式问题的回答进行编码，以剖析这种同伴支持干预的关键要素。
确定了三个关键主题——精神病对家庭的影响；通过家庭同伴支持理解和应对精神病；以及改善家庭同伴支持服务。通过分享经历获得相互支持；在疾病及其治疗知识方面的收获；情感支持；以及护理和自我护理能力与技能的提高被确定为家庭同伴支持的关键益处。
家庭同伴支持可以成为吸引和维系家庭并提高其护理技能的一种可接受且珍贵的方式。将其纳入早期干预服务有望促进康复并减轻照顾者负担。
