A Vicious Circle of Hope and Despair: Stigma Experienced by Relatives of Persons with Severe Mental Illness.

Not only people suffering from severe mental illness (SMI) but also their family members experience stigma. Relatives are met with negative attitudes from healthcare professionals, which adds to the problem. This Swedish study employed a qualitative inductive explorative design in the analysis of written free-text responses from 65 persons who completed a questionnaire for relatives of persons with SMI.

I have never been invited-A cross-sectional explorative study of family members' experiences of encounters with healthcare professionals in diabetes care.

Aim: To explore the experiences of family members of adult persons with type 1 diabetes concerning both the approach of healthcare professionals and feelings of alienation in encounters with professional diabetes care.

Methods: A cross-sectional explorative quantitative and qualitative design. The Family Involvement and Alienation Questionnaire-Revised (FIAQ-R), including an open-ended question, was answered by 37 family members of adult persons with type 1 diabetes.

A survey study of family members' encounters with healthcare services within the care of older people, psychiatric care, palliative care and diabetes care.

The aim of this study was to describe and compare family members' experiences of approach in encounters with healthcare professionals and possible feelings of alienation in the professional care within four care contexts: the care of older people, psychiatric care, palliative care and diabetes care. The design was an explorative cross-sectional survey study. Data were collected in Sweden using the Family Involvement and Alienation Questionnaire-Revised (FIAQ-R).

Relatives' Experiences of Mental Health Care, Family Burden and Family Stigma: Does Participation in Patient-Appointed Resource Group Assertive Community Treatment (RACT) Make a Difference?

The aim of this exploratory cross-sectional study was to investigate the experiences of relatives of individuals with severe mental illness with and without participation in patient-appointed Resource Group Assertive Community Treatment (RACT). A total of 139 relatives (79 with and 60 without RACT) completed the Family Involvement and Alienation Questionnaire, the Burden Inventory for Relatives of Persons with Psychotic Disturbances, and the family version of the Inventory of Stigmatizing Experiences. We found that relatives participating in RACT experienced a more positive approach from the healthcare professionals, as well as a lower degree of alienation from the provision of care.

Parents of adult children with long-term mental disorder: Their experiences of the mental health professionals' approach and feelings of alienation - A cross sectional study.

The aim was to describe how parents of adult children suffering from long-term mental disorder experience the mental health professionals' approach and any feelings of alienation regarding the provision of care. A further aim was to investigate any differences according to the parents' gender or the child's age. 93 mothers and 37 fathers participated.

Support Interventions for Family Members of Adults with Mental Illness: A Narrative Literature Review.

The aim of this review was to describe research related to support interventions for adult family members of people with mental illness and the significance that support may have. The results indicate the importance of flexible and individualized forms of support from both professionals and people with personal experience as a family member of someone with mental illness. In many cases, the intervention studies revealed that family members' burden decreased, their knowledge of the disease and treatment increased, and their ability to cope with the situation was improved.

Adaptation and evaluation of the Family Involvement and Alienation Questionnaire for use in the care of older people, psychiatric care, palliative care and diabetes care.

Aim: To adapt the Family Involvement and Alienation Questionnaire (FIAQ) for use in the care of older people, psychiatric care, palliative care and diabetes care and to evaluate its validity and reliability.

Background: Involvement in the professional care has proven to be important for family members. However, they have described feelings of alienation in relation to how they experienced the professionals' approach.

Health-related quality of life--from the perspective of mothers and fathers of adult children suffering from long-term mental disorders.

There is a lack of studies on mothers' and fathers' experiences of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) associated with caregiving of adult children suffering from mental disorder. A cross-sectional study was therefore carried out with 108 mothers and 43 fathers. Data were collected by means of the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Family Involvement and Alienation Questionnaire (FIAQ) and the Burden Assessment Scale (BAS).

A lonely life journey bordered with struggle: being a sibling of an individual with psychosis.

Research suggests that siblings of individuals with severe mental illness are affected by the situation and that health care services seem to be inadequate in meeting their needs for support. The aim of this study is to explore how siblings of individuals with a psychotic illness, and who have participated in a support group, experience their situation. Thirteen individuals participated in focus group interviews, which were analyzed by inductive content analysis.

Developing the concept of family involvement and the alienation questionnaire in the context of psychiatric care.

Research shows that family members of people with a mental illness often experience a lack of involvement in the psychiatric care of their relative. An interpretation of the findings of these studies raises the question of whether the family members' experience of not being involved can be conceptualized in terms of alienation towards mental health services from their encounter with psychiatric care. In order to explore this possibility, the Family Involvement and Alienation Questionnaire (FIAQ) was constructed, guided by relevant theoretical frameworks and empirical research.

Attitudes towards mental illness in Sweden: adaptation and development of the Community Attitudes towards Mental Illness questionnaire.

The main purpose for the expansion of supported community care for persons with serious mental illness in Sweden was to ensure the right for these persons to live as citizens in the community. However, earlier research shows that negative attitudes towards mental illness present an obstacle for social integration of persons with serious mental illness. The aim of this study, conducted in Sweden, was to evaluate an existing instrument's (Community Attitudes towards Mental Illness, CAMI), validity and reliability.