Culture shift: carer empowerment and cooperative inquiry

Abstract

Government policy has directed local services to address the needs of carers as a way of maintaining care in the community. This study was initiated to enable carers to develop an information pack based upon their identified needs. Co-operative inquiry, was the method used to ensure full participation of the carers. Group meetings were already in existence through a charity organisation which provides a carers support network. The first author participated in a number of carers group meetings. Co-operative inquiry was used to clarify a number of themes identified and reflective cycles ensured that those themes remained relevant. It was found that carers do want to be involved in their relative's care, not as passive recipients but as collaborative care providers. To do this they need to be fully informed of the processes of care provision. Carers need information that is relevant, easily accessible and obtainable in varying degrees of comprehension. This study suggests that a culture shift within mental health nursing is necessary if professionals are to recognise that a perceived lack of support may lead to a breakdown in relationships between the carer, the person being cared for and the professionals.

Great expectations: a systematic review of the literature on the role of family carers in severe mental illness, and their relationships and engagement with professionals

“…Lloyd & Carson (2005) when exploring the needs of carers found that they wanted to be involved in their relative's care, but there were some unexpected consequences: giving up work leading to financial hardship and struggling to cope with their own feelings. McCrone et al .…”

“…There has been a great deal of discourse about the experience of care‐giving by family members. Themes identified include: carer needs and burden (Lloyd & Carson 2005, Kuipers et al . 2006), information sharing and confidentiality (Pinfold et al .…”

Developing services for the carers of young adults with early‐onset psychosis – implementing evidence‐based practice on psycho‐educational family intervention

“…2002). The information which the carers are very much in need of should therefore encompass not only information on the illness and the relevant treatment for the young person they care for, but also information on the carers' coping strategies, available support systems and information on how to address and cope with the commonly found emotional experiences, namely: shame, guilt, grief and loss (Addington et al . 2005, Lloyd & Carson 2005).…”

Experiences of the psychiatric specialist health services – The perspective of relatives of inpatients with severe depression

“…In accordance with other studies, [3,4,28,29] the relatives preferred the staff to take responsibility for inviting to collaboration. The reason for not involving relatives may be that the ill person does not want to put an extra strain on them.…”

“…The families rather than the mental health service have become the major provider of care to persons with serious and persistent mental illness. [2] Collaboration between relatives and the mental health services is important, for the sake of the patient as well as for the relatives themselves, [3,4] contributing to the relatives' satisfaction with the services and easing their burden. [5] Depression is one of the 10 global diseases entailing the greatest loss of life quality and years of life, [6,7] and is estimated to affect 350 million people all over the world.…”