The burden, the coping strategies and the social network of a sample of 236 relatives of patients with schizophrenia, living in five European countries, were explored by well-validated assessment instruments. In all centres, relatives experienced higher levels of burden when they had poor coping resources and reduced social support. Relatives in Mediterranean centres, who reported lower levels of social support, were more resigned, and more often used spiritual help as a coping strategy. These data indicate that family burden and coping strategies can be influenced by cultural factors and suggest that family interventions should have also a social focus, aiming to increase the family social network and to reduce stigma.

Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is an approach to qualitative research that is now well-established in British psychology. This approach is concerned with understanding people's experiences of the world and of themselves. The aims of IPA studies have been met most frequently through the use of one-on-one interviews. Relatively few studies have used focus group discussions as the basis for IPA studies, but focus groups may provide rich experiential data. In this article, we describe a process for integrating focus group data into an IPA study. We developed this during a study of the experiences of carers of people with mental health problems. Here we outline the various steps of our analytic process and discuss how these might be employed and adapted by other researchers wishing to apply IPA's concern with personal experience to the analysis of focus group data.

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Family interventions for psychosis are not routinely available, in spite of a robust evidence base, clear policies and guidelines, and requests from service recipients. The reasons for this are complex involving three key groups: service recipients, clinicians and organizations. This paper first of all identifies barriers to implementation in relation to each of these groups. It then outlines a range of strategies that may be employed at a number of levels to bring about change in each of these systems. The strategies are drawn from current research in the area, and from experiences over a seven‐year period in the Meriden West Midlands Family Programme.

The impact of social and clinical factors on the choice of coping strategies of a sample of 236 relatives of patients with schizophrenia, living in five European countries, was explored using well-validated questionnaires. The adoption of problem-focused coping strategies was more frequent among young relatives and among relatives of younger patients, and was associated with higher levels of practical and emotional social support and of professional help. In contrast, emotion-focused strategies were more frequently adopted by relatives who had been living longer with the patient and who had poorer social support. It is suggested that supportive and educational interventions should be provided as early as possible to relatives of patients with schizophrenia, which, in addition to having a practical focus, should also have a social focus, aiming at extending the family's social network.

Subjective and objective burden, psychiatric symptoms and coping strategies in a sample of 90 key relatives and other relatives of patients with schizophrenia, living in two European countries, were explored by means of well-validated questionnaires. The levels of burden on key relatives did not differ significantly from those on other relatives. Moreover, the risk of developing psychiatric symptoms was similar in the two subject groups at both centres. Significant correlations were found between key relatives and other relatives concerning the adoption of emotion-focused coping strategies. These data contrast with the current belief that family burden in schizophrenia is mainly a burden of key relatives, and they emphasize the need to provide supportive interventions for as many relatives as possible.

In June 2005 it became mandatory for psychiatric trainees to receive training directly from people who experience mental health problems and their carers. This will be checked on approval visits to all training schemes, and accreditation may be withheld until this aspect of training is in place. For many of those who are responsible for training, this may be a new undertaking. We outline some of the issues that trainers need to consider when involving service users and carers in their training programmes, including background issues, how to prepare both those delivering and those receiving training, and logistical considerations. It is hoped that this paper will alert trainers to issues that need to be considered if such training is to be successful.

The research on psychoeducational family interventions is reviewed, outlining the key findings of the early intervention studies, and summarizing what later studies contribute to our knowledge. Questions of relevance to clinicians are addressed. The author draws attention to pertinent issues in relation to training and supervision of therapists, and highlights difficulties which must be overcome if family interventions are to be provided routinely in clinical services.