Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T18:37:29.875Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An assessment of the psychoeducational needs of long-term psychiatric patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Pat Gibbons ,
Grace Hogan  and
Sheila McGauran
Pat Gibbons
Affiliation:
Departamento de Investigaciun, La Universidad Tecnolugica, San Salvador, El Salvador
Grace Hogan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
Sheila McGauran
Affiliation:
The Mental Health Centre, Kilcock, Co. Kildare, Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to identify which illness related topics were of most interest to chronic psychiatric patients in our catchment area service, and to obtain a baseline measure of the amount of knowledge which patients with schizophrenia had about their illness.

Method: Patients attending for a minimum of one year were recruited from the outpatient clinic and day centre. Participants completed three instruments: a brief questionnaire which asked about the details of their diagnosis and drug treatment regimen, the ‘Educational Needs Questionnaire’ (ENQ), and a modified form of the ‘Understanding Schizophrenia Scale’ (USS).

Results: Forty-seven patients with a chronic psychotic illness participated in the study. Despite having attended the service for an average of 14 years, the majority of patients were unable to correctly identify their diagnosis. Most patients were able to name the drugs which they had been prescribed; but were not able to describe the dosage of these drugs. According to the ENQ results, patients expressed most interest in learning about general aspects of their illness, such as ‘how to cope with stress’, and less in how to manage specific illness related symptoms. Similarly, schizophrenia patients were found to know more about general aspects of their illness, such as rehabilitation and non-medical aspects of treatment, than about medication.

Conclusion: Chronic psychiatric patients, especially those with schizophrenia, have very limited knowledge of their illness and its treatment. The focus of psychoeducation should be extended from insight and compliance to include broader ‘quality of life’ issues which appear to be of more concern to patients themselves. Patient participation in psychoeducation can thus be improved by including topics identified by such instruments as the ENQ. It is encouraging that cognitive deficits and negative symptomatology do not seem to prevent long-term psychiatric patients from benefiting from such inputs.

Keywords

PsychoeducationChronic psychosisOutcome
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , September 1999 , pp. 104 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Corrigan, PW, Liberman, RP, Engel, JD. From non-compliance to collaboration in the treatment of schizophrenia. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 1990; 41: 1203–11.Google Scholar
2.Hulka, BS. Communication, compliance and concordance between physician and patient, with prescribed medication. Am J Public Health 1976; 66: 847.Google Scholar
3.Kemp, R, David, A. Psychological predictors of insight and compliance in psychotic patients. Br J Psychiatry 1996; 169: 444–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Mueser, KT, Gingerich, SL, Rosenthal, CK. Educational family therapy for schizophrenia: a new treatment model in clinical service research. Schiz Res 1994; 13: 99–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Falloon, I, Boyd, J, McGill, C. Family care of schizophrenia: a problem-solving approach to the treatment of mental illness. Guilford Press; New York, 1984.Google Scholar
6.Atkinson, JM, Coia, DA, Gilmour, WH, Harper, JP. The impact of education groups for people with schizophrenia on social functioning and quality of life. Br J Psychiatry 1996; 168: 199–204.Google Scholar
7.Smith, JV, Birchwood, MJ. Specific and non-specific effects of educational intervention with families living with a schizophrenic relative. Br J Psychiatry 1987; 150: 645–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.David, AS. Insight and psychosis. Br J Psychiatry 1990; 156: 798–808.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Hogan, TA, Awad, AG, Eastwood, R. A self-report scale predictive of drug compliance in schizophrenics: reliability and validity. Psycholog Med 1983; 13: 177–83.Google Scholar
10.Day, JC, Kinderman, P, Bentall, R. A comparison of patients' and preservers' beliefs about neuroleptic side effects: prevalence, distress and causation. Acta Psych Scand 1998: 97: 93–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Mueser, KT, Bellack, AS, Wade, JH, Sayers, SL, Rosenthal, CK. An assessment of the educational needs of chronic psychiatric patients and their relatives. Br J Psychiatry 1992; 160: 674–80.Google Scholar
12.Tempier, R. Long-term psychiatric patients' knowledge about their medication. Psychiatric Serv 1996; 47 (12): 1385–7.Google ScholarPubMed
13.Clary, C, Dever, A, Schweizer, E. Psychiatric inpatients' knowledge of medication at hospital discharge. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 1992; 43(2): 140–4.Google ScholarPubMed
14.Kemp, R, Kirov, G, Everitt, B, Hayward, P, David, A. Randomised controlled trial of compliance therapy: 18 month follow-up. Br J Psychiat 1998; 172: 413–9.Google Scholar
15.Eckman, TA, Wirshing, WC, Marder, STet al.Technique for training schizophrenic patients in illness self-management: a controlled trial. Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149(11): 1549–55.Google ScholarPubMed
16.Goulet, J, Lalonde, P, Lavoie, G, Jodoin, F. Effect of patient education on neuroleptic treatment of young psychotic patients. Can J Psychiatry 1993; 38(8): 571–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Buchremer, G, Klingberg, S, Holle, R, Schulze, Monking H, Hornung, WP. Psychoeducational psychotherapy for schizophrenic patients and their key relatives or care-givers: results of a two year follow-up. Acta Psych Scand 1997: 96(6): 483–91.Google Scholar
18.MacPherson, R, Double, DB, Rowlands, PRet al.Long-term psychiatric patients' understanding of neuroleptic medication. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 1993; 44: 71–3.Google Scholar
19.Mueser, KT, Bellack, AS, Douglas, MS, Wade, JH. Prediction of social skill acquisition in schizophrenic and major affective disorder patients from memory and symptomatology. Psychiatry Res 1991; 37: 281–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed