Developing Guideline on Patient and Family Education in Promoting Mental Health and Preventing Schizophrenia

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a significantly disabling condition which affects more than 400,000 people in Indonesia. However, only 84.9% of people with schizophrenia in Indonesia seek medical help and only 48.9% of those adhere to medication. Another problem in Indonesia is pasung (shackling), which occurs in 31.5% of patients with schizophrenia. Education of patients and families plays a role in alleviating these problems. However, the are no guidelines on patient and family schizophrenia education in Indonesia. This review aims to present recommendations for developing guideline on patient and family schizophrenia education in Indonesia. We conducted this review in MEDLINE database and search engine. The inclusion criteria were articles in English or Indonesian within the last 20 years. The used keywords were schizophrenia, education, family, screening, adherence, shackling, primary healthcare, their synonyms, as well as their equivalent in the Indonesian language. Analysis of selected papers suggests that people attributed schizophrenia symptoms to myths and there are barriers in accessing information and healthcare services. Schizophrenia education should be implemented in primary healthcare facilities. The content of education should consist of schizophrenia facts, symptoms, treatments, support, recovery and relapse prevention, and prevention of pasung. More studies on the content and method of education are warranted.