Tangible Needs and External Stressors Faced by Chinese American Families with a Member Having Schizophrenia

Abstract

This article examines the tangible needs and external stressors experienced by Chinese American families with a member living with schizophrenia, in the context of a six-month pilot study of family psychoeducation. Therapists' notes from 117 family and group sessions were analyzed. The families expressed concerns regarding housing, finance, work, study, and the shortage of bilingual psychosocial services. Interacting with government offices and social services agencies caused anxiety and frustration, partly due to the high stakes involved given their low socioeconomic status, and partly due to the bureaucracy. As immigrants, study participants had needs for language translation, knowledge about resources, and advocacy by case managers. This study also highlights the importance of interventions beyond the micro individual level to the mezzo and macro levels, where changes in organizations and policies are necessary.

Experiences of family caregivers of persons living with mental illness: A meta-synthesis

“…By learning to accept the situation and by implementing alternative coping methods, family caregivers’ mental health can be improved. Not accepting the behaviour of a mentally ill relative may cause additional stress not only to the family caregiver but also to the relative as well (Kung 2016). Some family caregivers said they made efforts to accommodate and accept their relative living with mental illness.…”

An Overview of Social Work Approaches in Working with Families of People with Serious Mental Illness

“…Diverse negative effects on carers include disrupted relationships, psychological distress, and financial difficulties (Kung 2016a;Lin et al 2018). Researchers have developed the notion of caregiving burden to capture these negative effects experienced by families.…”

“…Most carers did not choose this role for themselves but rather acted out of a sense of responsibility they get involved in the care for their ill relatives (Lawn and Mcmahon 2014). Many, however, accepted the role positively and demonstrated devotion to their loved ones (Kung 2016a;Thorning and Dixon 2016). Moreover, caregiving could sometimes be reciprocal as carers also received emotional and practical help from the family members for whom they cared (Chen and Greenberg 2004;Coldwell et al 2011).…”

Exploration of family intervention strategies and their receptivity among Chinese American families with a member having schizophrenia: a qualitative study

“…Alleviating patients' psychiatric symptoms and psychological distress among caregivers are both valid concerns for mental health professionals (Lefley, 2009). Immigrants have a higher risk of schizophrenia compared to native-born individuals (Werbeloff et al, 2012), and immigrant caregivers of patients with schizophrenia undergo high levels of stress, burden, and internalised stigma (Kung, 2016a(Kung, , 2016bYang et al, 2014). Although there are no specific data regarding the prevalence of schizophrenia among Chinese Americans, such disorder within this majority immigrant population could be sizeable, based on the National Latino and Asian American Study which reported that 1.12 per cent of Asians were found to have psychotic experiences (Oh et al, 2014).…”