A web-based survey among staff in a psychiatric hospital about their own experiences beeing caregivers to family members

The background of the survey was to ascertain the incidence of kin experiences among our colleagues in the Division of Psychiatry, Stavanger University Hospital, Norway. A review of research literature shows that there is... [ view full abstract ]

The background of the survey was to ascertain the incidence of kin experiences among our colleagues in the Division of Psychiatry, Stavanger University Hospital, Norway. A review of research literature shows that there is little or no research conducted on this topic. We want to investigate further. We used an online survey, among 1414 of our colleagues (employed more than 50% of full time) and with patient contact. We assumed that families are an important resource in the treatment of people with mental disorders. Most of us will probably once or several times in life experience that a close relative or friend get substantial mental health challenges. In this study we examined the prevalence of experiences as caregivers of one or more persons with mental illness.

Data  for 453/1414 respondents will be presented.
Among key results are that 52% of the repondents report beeing/or have been a relative to a person with mental illness.  We assume that the findings will be important to provide new knowledge about the topic, and that this can provide better services to people who are getting help from mental health services.