School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Parenting Research Centre, East Melbourne, Vic., Australia.
Health Soc Care Community. 2019 Jul;27(4):1042-1052. doi: 10.1111/hsc.12721. Epub 2019 Feb 5.
Increasing numbers of people living with psychosis are providing care for others, although the associated benefits and impacts are poorly understood. This innovative quantitative study investigated this life role using a population-based framework aiming to compare the mental health and functioning of those providing care to and/or receiving care from others. Care-giving provided by people with psychosis was examined using data from the second Australian prevalence survey of psychosis. This epidemiologically based sample (n = 1,822) was divided into four subgroups based on providing and/or receiving care from others. Independent functioning, cognitive functioning, social functioning, social connection and mental health were compared between the four subgroups. One in seven participants were providing care to others. The majority of carers were female and half were living with the care recipients. Caregivers were more likely to experience better illness course and were more commonly diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Almost one-third of caregivers reported that caring adversely affected their lives a great deal. Functioning and social connection were better in caregivers compared to non-caregivers, although cognitive functioning did not differ. People with psychosis who were neither providing nor receiving care were more likely to be single and perceive less warmth in their relationships. As expected, those only in receipt of care were living with greater disability and poorer illness course. It is relatively common to encounter people with psychosis who provide care to others in clinical settings, and women in particular combine care-giving with multiple other roles. Despite most experiencing some negative emotional impact, care-giving is associated with enhanced social relationships which may provide meaning and purpose for recovery. Care-giving roles should be addressed in recovery and care planning so as to provide people with psychosis with adequate information and support to fulfil these potentially important life roles.
越来越多的精神病患者正在为他人提供护理，但人们对这种关联的益处和影响知之甚少。这项创新的定量研究使用基于人群的框架来研究这种生活角色，旨在比较为他人提供护理和/或接受他人护理的人的心理健康和功能。使用第二次澳大利亚精神病流行率调查的数据来研究精神病患者提供的护理。该基于流行病学的样本（n=1822）根据向他人提供和/或接受护理分为四个亚组。在四个亚组之间比较了独立功能、认知功能、社会功能、社会联系和心理健康。七分之一的参与者在为他人提供护理。大多数照顾者是女性，一半与护理接受者住在一起。照顾者更有可能经历更好的疾病过程，更常见的是被诊断为双相情感障碍。近三分之一的照顾者报告说，照顾对他们的生活有很大的影响。与非照顾者相比，照顾者的功能和社会联系更好，尽管认知功能没有差异。既不提供也不接受护理的精神病患者更有可能单身，并且在人际关系中感受到的温暖较少。不出所料，那些只接受护理的人生活在更大的残疾和更差的疾病过程中。在临床环境中遇到为他人提供护理的精神病患者是相对常见的，特别是女性将护理与多种其他角色结合在一起。尽管大多数人都经历了一些负面的情绪影响，但护理与增强的社会关系相关，这可能为康复提供意义和目的。在康复和护理计划中应考虑护理角色，以便为精神病患者提供充分的信息和支持，以履行这些潜在重要的生活角色。
