Psychoeducation for schizophrenia in the Czech Republic: curriculum modification based on opinions of service users and providers.

Objective: The authors examined current knowledge about psychoeducation for schizophrenia in Czech Republic.

Methods: The authors sent a screening survey to 550 mental health-care facilities and administered a detailed questionnaire to 113 providers of mental health and social services and to 200 service users. The authors also carried out 14 focus groups and 16 individual interviews.

Results: Forty-six departments provided some type of psychoeducation for schizophrenia; of these, 16 provided family psychoeducation for patients and relatives and 1 provided psychoeducation only for relatives. Service users who received psychoeducation performed significantly better in the test of knowledge than did service users who did not receive psychoeducation.

Conclusion: The authors propose a service user-driven curriculum based on information delivery followed by skills training. Psychiatrists should learn to explain schizophrenia relapse neurobiology to laypeople and to address relatives' frustrations.