Improving knowledge about mental illness through family-led education: the journey of hope.

Objective: Families often do not receive the information that they need to care for their adult relatives with mental illness. This study examined the effectiveness of a family-led education intervention, the Journey of Hope, in improving participants' knowledge about mental illness and its treatment and decreasing their information needs.

Methods: A total of 462 family members of adults with mental illness in Louisiana participated in the study; 231 were randomly assigned to immediate receipt of the Journey of Hope course (intervention group), and 231 were randomly assigned to a nine-month waiting list for the course (control group).

Changes in caregiving satisfaction and information needs among relatives of adults with mental illness: results of a randomized evaluation of a family-led education intervention.

The authors examined changes in caregiving satisfaction and information needs among 462 relatives of individuals with mental illness who participated in a study of a family-led education course, the Journey of Hope (JOH). Participants were randomly assigned to receive JOH or to a control group waiting list and followed for 9 months. General linear model repeated measures analysis of variance found that, compared with the control group, the intervention group showed significant improvement in caregiving satisfaction and information needs following course completion and maintained these gains for another 6 months.

The tipping point from private practice to publicly funded settings for early- and mid-career psychiatrists.

Objective: Practice settings for American psychiatrists were examined for recent trends.

Methods: Surveys were conducted in 1996 (N=970) and 2002 (N=917) among members of the American Psychiatric Association.

Results: Between 1996 and 2002 the percentage of direct patient care hours in publicly funded settings increased from 40 to 50 percent for early-career psychiatrists and from 29 to 44 percent for mid-career psychiatrists.

Psychological well-being and relationship outcomes in a randomized study of family-led education.

Context: Family members of adults with mental illness often experience emotional distress and strained relationships.

Objective: To test the effectiveness of a family-led educational intervention, the Journey of Hope, in improving participants' psychological well-being and relationships with their ill relatives.

Design And Setting: A randomized controlled trial using a waiting list design was conducted in the community in 3 southeastern Louisiana cities.