Exploring and describing experiences and needs of family members/significant others of male forensic patients in a specialist psychiatric hospital

Abstract

Family and caregivers play a vital role in providing support, care and assistance to forensic mental healthcare users. Family members of the forensic mental healthcare users often find their caregiving role stressful and suffer from significant stress and experience high levels of caregiver burden. Forensic patients need physical and emotional support from their family members to help them cope in the hospital, but the needs of those family members are often neglected when caring for the forensic patients in South Africa. The objective of the study was to explore and describe the experiences and needs of family members/significant others of male forensic mental healthcare users in a specialist psychiatric hospital, and to recommend guidelines for the Psychiatric nurses to assist families of the forensic mental healthcare users to manage their stressful experiences. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was followed to achieve the aim and objectives of the study. Purposive sampling was used for sample selection. Two open-ended questions were asked in a semi-structured interview. The audio taped interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic content analysis Themes emerging were poor parental expectation, strained relationship with others, and the emotional and financial impact of caregiving. The families experienced emotional distress and lack of support by other family members as well as self-blame and strained relationships. These findings highlighted the need for inventions such as support groups and psycho-education for psychiatric nurses as well as families of forensic patients. The findings are to be used to guide professional development, counselling and family therapy sessions that would assist the family members and also caregivers of the forensic patients to cope. Key words: Experiences, Needs, Families, Forensic MHCU, Specialist Hospital.