Exploring Perceived Benefits Challenges And Experience Of The Family Caregiver Involvement In Patients With Severe Mental Illness Receiving Care At Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

IntroductionrnSevere mental disorder impairs individuals’ functionality on work, social relations and dailyrnactivities. Family/caregivers of people with severe mental illness are the ones who takernresponsibilities for their ill family member and face variety of difficulties in order to providerntheir support. Although they are supporting in different ways, we know little aboutrnthisexperiencefrom both sides and the challenges they face in providing support for their illrnrelative as well as the professionals who work in mental health centers.rnMethodsrnSemi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out with three inpatients and two outpatientsrnwith severe mental disorder, four families of individual with severe mental disorder and fourrnprofessionals who works with people with severe mental disorder at Amanuel MentalrnSpecialized hospital. Participants’ experiences, views about informal caregiving and needs forrnsupport were discussed. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and qualitative thematic analysisrncarried out.rnResultsrnAll of the patient participants are financially dependent on their families. Most participantsrnmentioned that caregivers are the key to the treatment process. The need for the help ofrncaregivers on the monitoring medication is mentioned by most of the participants except for onernpatient participant. Participants also mentioned that the caregivers are also a source ofrnencouragement and emotional support despite the fact that patients may become aggressive fromrntime to time. The family/caregiver role in improving patient’s functionality with regards tornencouraging social engagement and enhancing self-care. Caregivers also stated that they carriedrna great deal burden financially, emotionally and with the demand on their time, it compromisedrnother areas of their lives. All have reported perceiving satisfactory levels of care in most aspectsrnand did not have much to suggest regarding their preferred means or types of care giverrninvolvement. However, it is evident that there is still room for improving caregiver support. Bothrnpatients and caregivers had low awareness and expectations from the involvement.rnConclusionrnOur findings suggest that the care for the severely mentally ill is a shared responsibility betweenrnthe patient him/herself, the caregivers and the health system at large. Effective treatment wouldrntherefore require liaison and collaboration of all involved. As a developing country that isrnstriving to improve mental health accessibly, it would be wise to leverage this key resource ofrncaregivers which is already in our hands.

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