Enhancing Family Caregiving Abilities for Schizophrenia Patients through Family-Centred Counselling

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that requires long-term care and family support. However, many families struggle with caring for a family member with schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of family centre-based counselling on families' abilities to care for schizophrenia patients. This study employed a pre-experimental design with a single-group pre-test and post-test. The sample consisted of 18 relatives of schizophrenia patients, selected through purposive sampling. The intervention, in the form of family centre-based counselling, was conducted over two meetings. Data on the family's ability to care for schizophrenia patients were collected using a questionnaire and analysed using the Wilcoxon Sign Rank test. After the intervention, the family's ability to care for schizophrenia patients improved significantly (p=0.001). Before the intervention, 72.2% of families had poor capabilities (average score 11.44), whereas after the intervention, 88.9% of families demonstrated good capabilities (average score 23.22). Family centre-based counselling was proven to be beneficial in enhancing the family's ability to care for schizophrenia patients. This approach is recommended for use in community-based mental health interventions.