Family Caregivers' Future Planning for Younger and Older Adults With Serious Mental Illness (SMI)

Abstract

This study examines plans for future caregiving made by family members of younger (n = 59) and older adults (n = 16) with serious mental illness (SMI). An online survey was advertised through a newsletter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Qualitative analyses yielded four areas of caregiver concern: health of the care recipient over time, ability of caregivers to sustain support, social support available for the care recipient, and financial burden of care. Despite these concerns, few caregivers reported completed plans for future caregiving. One fourth of the caregivers had made no plans, nor had they discussed future caregiving with others. Although most would prefer other relatives to assume care in the event they could not sustain support, these expectations may not be communicated openly. Generating discussion on this pertinent topic has implications for the aging society regarding how best to care for those with SMI and their caregivers.

Tangible Needs and External Stressors Faced by Chinese American Families with a Member Having Schizophrenia

“…Although an increasing number of qualitative studies have explored the stresses experienced by families with a member living with serious mental illness (SMI) (for example, Corsentino, Molinari, Gum, Roscoe, & Mills, 2008;González-Torres, Oraa, Arístegui, Fernández-Rivas, & Guimon, 2007), few have included Asian Americans. Studies also tended to address families' internal stressors ( Zegwaard et al, 2011) while paying little attention to their tangible needs and external stressors.…”

“…In qualitative studies on families with SMIs, analyzed data were usually based on one-time interviews of participants who reflected on their experiences (for example, Corsentino et al, 2008). A limitation of these studies is that whereas they may depict participants' most pressing issues at the time of the interviews, participants' ongoing struggles are sometimes taken for granted and omitted, even though these challenges may affect them tremendously.…”

The Family Challenge of Caring for the Chronically Mentally Ill: A Phenomenological Study

“…As a result, carers are ill-prepared to play their roles as efficiently as possible (6). Iranian families are characterized by their intimate interpersonal relationships and many interactions among family members.…”

Measuring Use of Resourcefulness Skills: Psychometric Testing of a New Scale

“…Family members of persons with serious mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, and others, have received limited attention [13, 14]. Individuals who have a family member diagnosed with a serious mental illness are at risk for poor health and low quality of life because of the stress and stigma by association that they experience [15, 16].…”