The Effectiveness of Family Psychoeducation on the Quality of Life of Primary Caregivers of Patients with Psychotic Disorders

Introductoin: 

Families of psychiatric patients often experience physical and psychological stress, depression, anxiety, and social communication problems that affect their quality of life, and controlling these effects requires identifying related factors. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of family psychoeducation on the quality of life of families of patients with psychiatric disorders in Tehran

This semi-experimental research was conducted with the participation of 30 main caregivers of patients suffering from psychotic disorders admitted to Razi Psychiatry Training and Treatment Center in Tehran in the spring of 2018. This sample was selected by the available method and randomly divided into two groups of 15 people, test and control. This research was done in four steps. In the first step, a pre-test was conducted, and in the second step, family psychological education sessions were held only for the main caregivers of the experimental group patients during 8 two-hour sessions (one 120-minute session each week). In the third step, two groups of experimental and control patients completed the quality   of  life   questionnaire   at the time of discharge, and in the fourth step, six months after the end of the family psychological education sessions, the two groups of experimental and control patients completed the questionnaire related to the research. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 24 and repeated measures analysis of variance.

According to the data obtained in the pre-test stage, there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of demographic characteristics (P> 0.05). Also, there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of quality of life (F = 0.92, P> 0.05). But in the post-test and follow-up stages, a significant difference was obtained between them (F = 7.63, P <0.001). In other words, family psychological education and care sessions increased the quality of life in the families of patients with psychotic disorders.

Based on the research results, it can be said that family psychoeducation has increased the quality of life of families of patients with psychiatric disorders. This increase is significant in quality of life and subscales of physical health, mental health, social relationships, and environmental health.