Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Attitudes and Perceived Barriers to Working with Families of Persons with Severe Mental Illness: Mental Health Professionals’ Perspectives

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Community Mental Health Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A state-wide survey of 453 clinicians serving people with severe mental illness in community mental health centers evaluated the degree to which they provide services to families and their perceptions of barriers to developing such services. Most clinicians did not provide many services to families and reported barriers related to the family or client (e.g., family’s lack of interest) and their own work environment (e.g., heavy workload). Clinicians who had received prior training on working with families provided more services, had more positive attitudes toward family, and felt more competent about their knowledge, confirming the importance of staff training.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bernheim, K. (1990). Principles of professional and family collaboration. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 41(12), 1353–1355.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bernheim, K., & Switalski, T. (1988). Mental health staff and patient’s relatives: How they view each other. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 39, 63–68.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Biegel, D. E., Song, L., & Milligan, S. (1995). A comparative analysis of family caregivers’ perceived relationships with mental health professionals. Psychiatric Services, 46(5), 477–482.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bliese, P. D. (2000). Within-group agreement, non-independence, and reliability: Implications for data aggregation and analysis. In K. J. Klein & S. W. Kozlowski (Eds.), Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organization (pp. 349–381). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogart, T., & Solomon, P. (1999). Procedures to share treatment information among mental health providers, consumers, and families. Psychiatric Services, 50(10), 1321–1325.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, R., & Drake, R. (1994). Expenditures of time and money of families of people with severe mental illness and substance abuse disorders. Community Mental Health Journal, 30, 145–163.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig, T., Guy, S., & Ogilvie, L. (1999). An evaluation of a practitioner training program designed to assist families of people with severe psychiatric disorders. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 23(1), 34–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, L., McFarlane, W. R., Lefley, H., Lucksted, A., Cohen, M., Falloon, I., Mueser, K. T., Miklowitz, D., Solomon, P., & Sondheimer, D. (2001). Evidence-based practices for services to families of people with psychiatric disabilities. Psychiatric Services, 52(7), 903–910.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, L., Lucksted, A., Stewart, B., & Delahanty, J. (2000). Therapists’ contacts with family members of persons with severe mental illness in a community treatment program. Psychiatric Services, 51(11), 1449–1451.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, L., Lyles, A., Scott, J., Lehman, A., Postrado, L., Goldman, H., & McGlynn, E. (1999). Services to families of adults with schizophrenia: From treatment recommendations to dissemination. Psychiatric Services, 50(2), 233–238.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eisen, S. V., Wilcox, M., Idiculla, T., Speredelozzi, A., & Dickey, B. (2002). Assessing consumer perceptions of inpatient psychiatric treatment: The perceptions of care survey. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality Improvement, 28(9), 510–526.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, G., Benson, P., & Tessler, R. (1990). Family response to mental illness: Developments since deinstitutionalization. In J. R. Greenley (Ed.), Research in community and mental health: Mental disorder in social context (pp. 273–294). Greenwich, CT: JAI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, J., Greenley, J., & Kim, H. (1995). The provision of mental health services to families of persons with serious mental illness. In J. Greenley (Ed.), Research in community and mental health (Vol. 8, pp. 181–204). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, J., & Rapp, C. (1992). Families’ perceptions of community mental health programs for their relatives with a severe mental illness. Community Mental Health Journal, 28, 181–197.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Herold, D., Fedor, D., & Caldwell, S. (2007). Beyond change management: A multilevel investigation of contextual and personal influences on employees’ commitment to change. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 942–951.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Howard, P. B., El-Mallakh, P., Rayens, M. K., & Clark, J. J. (2003). Consumer perspectives on quality of inpatient mental health services. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 17(5), 205–217.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jaccard, J., & Wan, C. K. (1996). LISREL approaches to interaction effects in multiple regression. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, L. R. (1982). Aggregation bias in estimates of perceptual agreement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67(2), 219–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, L. (2004). Mental health care experiences: Listening to families. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 10(1), 33–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaas, M., Lee, S., & Peitzman, C. (2003). Barriers to collaboration between mental health professionals and families in the care of persons with serious mental illness. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 24, 741–756.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Karanci, A. (1995). Caregivers of Turkish schizophrenic patients: Causal attributions, burdens, and attitudes to help from the health professionals. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 30, 261–268.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lefley, H. P. (1996). Family caregiving in mental illness. Family caregiver application series (Vol. 7). Sage Publications.

  • Lehman, A. F., Steinwachs, D. M., & PORT Co-Investigators. (1998). At issue: Translating research into practice: The Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT) treatment recommendations. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 24, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine, I., & Ligenza, L. (2002). In their own voices: Families in crisis: A focus group study of families of persons with serious mental illness. Journal of Psychiatric Practice, 8, 344–353.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh, D. (1999). Serious mental illness: Opportunities for family practitioners. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 7(4), 358–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, T. B., & Solomon, P. (2000). Releasing information to families of persons with severe mental illness: A survey of NAMI members. Psychiatric Services, 51(8), 1006–1011.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, T. B., & Solomon, P. (2004). Provider contact with families of adults with severe mental illness: Taking a closer look. Family Process, 43(2), 209–216.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, T. B., Solomon, P., Steber, S., & Mannion, E. (2003). Provider and family beliefs regarding the causes of severe mental illness. Psychiatric Quarterly, 74(3), 223–236.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maurin, J. T., & Boyd, C. B. (1990). Burden of mental illness on the family: A critical review. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 4(2), 99–107.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McFarlane, W. R., Dushay, R. A., Deakins, S., Stastny, P., Lukens, E., Toran, J., Link, B. (2000). Employment outcomes in family-aided assertive community treatment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 203–214.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mohr, W. (2000). Rethinking professional attitudes in mental health settings. Qualitative Health Research, 10, 595–611.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pejlert, A. (2001). Being a parent of an adult son or daughter with severe mental illness receiving professional care: Parents’ narratives. Health and Social Care in the Community, 9(4), 194–204.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Penn, D., & Mueser, K. (1996). Research update on the psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 607–617.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reinhard, S. C. (1994). Living with mental illness: Effects of professional support and personal control on caregiver burden. Research in Nursing and Health, 17, 79–88.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, L. (1998). Benefits and limitations of professional-family interactions: The family perspective. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 12(3), 140–147.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders, J. (2003). Families living with severe mental illness: A literature review. Issues in Mental Health and Nursing, 24, 175–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seltzer, M., Greenberg, J., & Krauss, M. (1995). A comparison of coping strategies of aging mothers of adults with mental illness or mental retardation. Psychology and Aging, 10(1), 64–75.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, E., Steinwachs, D., & Kasper, J. (1992). Family perspectives on the service needs of people with serious and persistent mental illness. Innovations & Research, 1, 23–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, G. (2003). Patterns and predictors of service use and unmet needs among aging families of adults with severe mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 54(6), 871–877.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, P. (1994). Families’ views of service delivery: An empirical assessment. In H. P. Lefley & M. Wasow (Eds.), Helping families cope with mental illness (pp. 259–274). Newark, NJ: Harwood Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiden, P., Scheifler, P., McEvoy, J., et al. (1999). Expert consensus treatment guidelines for schizophrenia: A guide for patients and families. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60(suppl 11), 73–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whelton, C., Pawlick, J., & Cardamone, J. (1997). Involving families in psychological rehabilitation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 20, 57–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, C. C., & Mfoafo-M’Carthy, M. (2006). Care: Giving, receiving and meaning in the context of mental illness. Psychiatry, 69(1), 26–46.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Winefield, H., & Burnett, P. (1996). Barriers to an alliance between family and professional caregivers in chronic schizophrenia. Journal of Mental Health, 5(3), 223–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winefield, H., & Harvey, E. (1993). Determinants of psychological distress in relatives of people with chronic schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 19, 619–635.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, E. (1997). The impact of organizational factors on mental health professionals’ involvement with families. Psychiatric Services, 48(7), 921–927.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by a grant from the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction. We thank Hollie MacKay, Dawn Shimp, and Joy Piland for their help with this project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Indiana University, 902 W. New York St., Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Hea-Won Kim

  2. Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Michelle P. Salyers

  3. ACT Center of Indiana, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Michelle P. Salyers

  4. VA HSR&D Center on Implementing Evidence-based Practice, Roudebush VAMC, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Michelle P. Salyers

  5. IU Center for Health Services & Outcomes Research, Regenstrief Institute, Inc., Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Michelle P. Salyers

Authors
  1. Hea-Won Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michelle P. Salyers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hea-Won Kim.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kim, HW., Salyers, M.P. Attitudes and Perceived Barriers to Working with Families of Persons with Severe Mental Illness: Mental Health Professionals’ Perspectives. Community Ment Health J 44, 337–345 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-008-9135-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-008-9135-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation