Understanding caregiver burden from a long-term perspective: The Banyan model of caregiver experiences.

Purpose: A multiphase model for experiences of family members of persons with mental illness that considers both positive and negative aspects is proposed.

Design And Methods: Mixed methods (semistructured interviews, life history timelines, focus group discussions, and the Experience of Caregiving Inventory) were used with caregivers accessing outpatient services of a nongovernmental organization in urban and rural locations around Chennai, India.

Findings: Based on our results, we constructed a multiphase model, which we named The Banyan model of caregiver experiences.

Mimicking family like attributes to enable a state of personal recovery for persons with mental illness in institutional care settings.

Background: The convergence between mental ill health and homelessness is well documented, but critical events that precipitate the downward spiral into homelessness, and promote personal recovery remain only partially explored in India.

Aims: To explore causative factors of the descent into homelessness, and gain insight into creative and innovative approaches that promote personal recovery, specifically in institutional care settings.

Methods: This qualitative study used focus group discussions, detailed personal interviews and anonymised data drawn from patient files.