Family carers: lived experience of caring for relatives with an SMI
Date
2014-07-29Author
Cleary, Anne
Walsh, Francis
Dowling, Maura
Metadata
Show full item recordUsage
This item's downloads: 298 (view details)
Recommended Citation
Cleary, Anne, Walsh, Francis, & Dowling, Maura. (2014). Family carers: lived experience of caring for relatives with an SMI. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 3(4), 151-156. doi: 10.12968/bjmh.2014.3.4.151
Published Version
Abstract
This study explored family carers’ lived experience of caring for a relative with an ongoing mental illness. An interpretative phenomenological approach was adopted. Participants (n = 8) were self-selecting and members of SHINE, an Irish voluntary organisation supporting people with mental illness and their families. Three super-ordinate themes were interpreted from the interview data. The first theme, ‘nobody told me this was the way it is’ represents participants’ experiences of not understanding what was happening to their relative and what they should do when their relative was first diagnosed. The second theme, ‘feeling excluded’, represents the participants’ sense of exclusion. For some, the reason for this exclusion was because of the confidentiality embedded in the Mental Health Act. The final theme, ‘you don't feel judged’ represents the importance of the support group to participants, especially at the beginning when their relative was first diagnosed. The study findings illustrate the importance of education for relatives, and the role support groups play in support and education.