The Educational Needs of Families of Mentally Ill Adults: The South Carolina Experience

OBJECTIVE: Family members of patients at South Carolina State Hospital in Columbia were surveyed to learn their needs for education, skill building, and support. METHODS: A random sample of 80 families participated in a telephone survey in 1995 to obtain information for development of a family program. Families were asked about their information and support needs in 13 areas, their preferences about the location and scheduling of family services, and barriers that might prevent them from participating. RESULTS: Respondents identified needs in several areas. The most frequent need, identified by more than 75 percent of families, was for advocacy in communicating with professionals and others. Twenty-nine percent of respondents reported that more contact with the social worker or physician would help improve their relationship with their ill relative. Families expressed the most interest in individualized sessions of family services (66 percent). Thirty-five percent of families were interested in informal support groups, such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and 29 percent in formal support groups, such as those developed by mental health professionals. No special preference was noted when families were asked about site of educational and support services—at the hospital (48 percent), in the community (46 percent), or at home (48 percent). Transportation and distance were the chief barriers cited by family members (68 percent) to participating in family services. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated that mental health professionals should continue efforts to engage families in a partnership for the benefit of the patient and the family and to help contain service costs.