Living with Severe Mental Illness--What Families and Friends Must Know: Evaluation of a One-Day Psychoeducation Workshop.

Deinstitutionalization has shifted responsibility of care into community settings for even individuals with the most serious mental illnesses. Simultaneously, recent government policies have cut funding for intensive psychosocial stabilization services in the community. As a result of these changes, overburdened families are finding themselves increasingly responsible for care of a family member with a serious mental illness. These families often struggle with this role because of their lack of special training, knowledge, and sufficient professional support (Mc Farlane, 1991; North et al., 1998; Pollio, North, Osborne, Kap, & Foster, 2001; Solomon, 1996). The stress of managing a family member's mental illness can have a serious impact on families (Dixon & Lehman, 1995).The effects include not only problems interacting with the family member and the grief associated with the illness (Atkinson, 1994; Miller, Dworkin, Ward, & Barone, 1990), but also difficulties in obtaining appropriate care and communicating effectively with service providers. Hanson (1993) found that families of people with mental illness were confused by their roles and felt helpless as these roles shifted over the course of treatment. Family stress can be associated with physical and psychological problems in caregivers (Oldrige & Hughes, 1992; Vaddadi, 1996).