Family involvement in psychiatry: Beyond implementing family interventions

Abstract

Families are often primary caretakers for patients with psychiatric disorders and may feel burdened by caregivers' distress (Fadden et al., 1987;Ohaeri, 2003;Platt, 1985). In the last decade, the Belgian mental healthcare system has reformed to reduce the number of inpatient psychiatric beds (Nicaise et al., 2014). Consequently, this reform has increased the level of anticipated care provided in the home context, without any subsequent increase in outpatient options or family support and involvement. Families who participate throughout treatments understand mental health problems more, feel more supported and provide better care (Peters et al., 2011;Wonders

‘Treating this place like home’: An exploration of the notions of home within an adolescent inpatient unit with subsequent implications for staff training

“…As described by De Corte et al. (2023), significant family involvement within inpatient settings may require a shift in culture, and change processes need to involve collaboration across all levels. These recommendations acknowledge the complexity associated with engaging with parents/carers where there may be concerns about child protection, an imminent disclosure of abuse or parental mental health issues.…”

Seeing, being and feeling seen and heard

“…Working within the psychiatric system, de Corte et al (2023) present the evolution of a model of multi‐party dialogues between inpatients, family caregivers, professional caregivers and family organisations with a view to creating more effective family participation. This paper punctuates a comprehensive piece of work and demonstrates how creating system‐wide change takes care and time.…”

Working systemically within an adolescent inpatient context

“…This special edition explores big ideas about psychiatric care for adolescents from around the world. It builds on considerations introduced in recent papers by Muddle et al (2022) andde Corte et al (2023) about the importance of family involvement in psychiatric admissions. This is the first special edition on the subject, which in of itself might tell us something of the unique and underrepresented nature of this important work context.We can use a systemic perspective (Burnham, 1986;Minuchin, 1974), to understand the psychiatric inpatient unit as a system.…”