Needs of Caregivers of Persons with Mental Illness: Rehabilitation Perspective

Introduction: Chronic nature of major mental illnesses can have a devastating impact on persons with mental illness (PWMI) and the caregivers. Rehabilitation is a long lasting phase of psychiatric treatment. The study focus on rehabilitation needs of the caregivers of PWMI attending psychiatric outpatient department at a tertiary care hospital. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. A purposive sample of 100 caregivers of persons with mental illness was interviewed to assess rehabilitation needs. Information on sociodemographic profile and rehabilitation needs was ascertained by using a self-administered pre-tested questionnaire. Appropriate descriptive statistics was applied to formulate the results. Results: Findings revealed that medical needs (10.04±2.61), self-care (10.11±2.48) and stress management needs (10.20±4.72) were more compared to others needs. Few caregivers reported the incidences of facing stigma at workplace and society (9.74±2.49) because of their ward’s mental illness. Further, it also revealed that needs related to peer/community support, development of right attitude towards the care of the PWMI and management for worries and apprehension due to the condition of PWMI are quite frequently reported rehabilitation needs by the caregivers. Conclusion: A successful rehabilitation services always should be need based. Types and severity of disability of the PWMI will also play an important role in designing a structured rehabilitation programme. This study warrants further study based on large sample size to design successful rehabilitation services for persons with mental illness. KeywordsMental illness, rehabilitation, needs, caregiver Introduction Mental illness is listed as one among the ten leading causes of the disability worldwide. [1] Recovery is heavily undermined by the disruptive symptoms, abnormal behaviour and inadequate skills. Psychiatric rehabilitation aims to provide pharmacological and psychosocial treatment to help the PWMI to go back to his/her previous independent stage of life. [2] Mental illness not only affects the PWMI but also their family members, friends and neighbours who directly and indirectly involved in their care [3] . Family members become direct target and they face problems, scarcity and challenges in the care of mentally ill resulting in needs among caregivers commonly known as ‘rehabilitation needs’. [4] Caregivers play an important role in providing day to day care to their ward and feel constrained due to unfulfilment of their own personal and professional needs. [5] It is an occupation that can encompass 24 hours in a day; 7 days in a week with no sick leave, no payback or no praise [6] . These challenges put the Access the article online: http://pswjournal.org/index.php/ijpsw/article/view/26 How to Cite this article: Kumar R, Das A. Needs of Caregivers of Persons with Mental Illness: Rehabilitation Perspective. Indian J Psy Socl Work 2017;8(2): Epub. Corresponding author: Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, AIIMS Rishikesh, Uttarakhand 249203 Email: [email protected]