Layers of listening: qualitative analysis of the impact of early intervention services for first-episode psychosis on carers’ experiences
Authors
Anna, Lavis,Lester, Helen
Everard, Linda
Freemantle, Nick
Amos, Tim
Fowler, David
Hodgekins, Jo
Jones, Peter B.
Marshall, Max
Sharma, Vimal
Larsen, John
McCrone, Paul
Singh, Swaran P.
Smith, Jo
Birchwood, Max
Publication Date
2015-08
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Background: Early Intervention Services (EIS) comprise low-stigma youth-friendly mental health teams for young people undergoing first-episode psychosis (FEP). Engaging with the family of the young person is central to EIS policy and practice. Aims: By analysing carers’ accounts of their daily lives and affective challenges during a relative’s first-episode psychosis against the background of wider research into Early Intervention Services, this paper explores relationships between carers’ experiences and EIS. Methods: Semi-structured longitudinal interviews with 80 carers of young people with FEP treated through English EIS. Results: Our data suggest that EIS successfully aid carers to support their relatives, particularly through the provision of knowledge about psychosis and medications. However, paradoxical ramifications of these service user-focused engagements also emerge; they risk leaving carers’ emotions unacknowledged and compounding an existing lack of helpseeking. Conclusions: By focusing on EIS’s engagements with carers, this paper draws attention to an urgent broader question; as a continuing emphasis on care outside the clinic space places family members at the heart of the care of those with severe mental illness, we ask: who can, and should, support carers, and in what ways?Citation
Lavis, A., Lester, H., Everard, L., Freemantle, N., Amos, T., Fowler, D., Hodgekins, J., Jones, P., Marshall, M., Sharma, V., Larsen, J., McCrone, P., Singh, S., Smith, J. & Birchwood, M. (2015). Layers of listening: qualitative analysis of the impact of early intervention services for first-episode psychosis on carers’ experiences. British Journal of Psychiatry, 207(2), 135-142.Publisher
Cambridge University PressJournal
British Journal of PsychiatryType
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
0007-1250EISSN
1472-1465ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1192/bjp.bp.114.146415
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