Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Health Expect. 2021 Apr;24(2):709-718. doi: 10.1111/hex.13220. Epub 2021 Feb 24.
The Family Connections™ (FC) program is a 12-week support and skill-training program for caregivers of youth with mental health challenges. The intervention was originally developed with a focus on borderline personality disorder (BPD). It is important to understand the experiences of caregivers in such interventions, as well as its applicability beyond BPD, for the purposes of evaluation and ongoing program improvement.
To explore and analyse the experiences of caregivers of youth with diverse mental health challenges and who participated in FC.
Semi-structured interviews with thirteen FC-participating caregivers of youth with mental health challenges.
Thematic analysis uncovered three major themes regarding caregivers' experience with FC: (a) FC increased the caregivers' ability to manage their youth's mental health challenges; (b) participating in FC impacted their intra- and interpersonal spheres; and (c) improvements to the program were proposed. Following participation in FC, caregivers felt they learned a new approach to understanding themselves, their youth and mental health, and were better able to manage their youth's mental health challenges.
FC is a promising intervention for caregivers of youth with mental health challenges, beyond the traditional BPD focus. The intervention has the potential to provide broad-based benefits for caregivers and should be considered for implementation and scale-up across youth- and caregiver-serving organizations. Potential areas of intervention flexibility and improvement are discussed.
PATIENT/PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Caregivers were involved in the program development and facilitation of FC. A person with lived experience was involved with the analysis.
家庭联系计划（FC）是一个为期 12 周的支持和技能培训计划，针对有心理健康挑战的青少年的照顾者。该干预措施最初是针对边缘型人格障碍（BPD）开发的。了解照顾者在这种干预中的体验，以及其在 BPD 之外的适用性，对于评估和持续的项目改进非常重要。
探索和分析具有不同心理健康挑战的青少年的照顾者的经历，以及他们参与 FC 的情况。
对 13 名参与 FC 的青少年的照顾者进行半结构化访谈。
主题分析揭示了照顾者对 FC 体验的三个主要主题：（a）FC 提高了照顾者管理青少年心理健康挑战的能力；（b）参与 FC 影响了他们的内部和人际关系领域；（c）提出了对该计划的改进。参加 FC 后，照顾者感到他们学会了一种理解自己、自己的青少年和心理健康的新方法，并且能够更好地管理他们青少年的心理健康挑战。
FC 是一种针对有心理健康挑战的青少年的照顾者的有前途的干预措施，超出了传统的 BPD 重点。该干预措施有可能为照顾者提供广泛的益处，应考虑在为青少年和照顾者服务的组织中实施和扩大规模。讨论了潜在的干预灵活性和改进领域。
患者/公众贡献：照顾者参与了该计划的开发和 FC 的促进。一位有过亲身体验的人参与了分析。
