The Ex perience of Family Members Caring for a Relative Di agnosed with Schi zophrenia: The Case of Amanuel Ho spital
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Date
2013-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Thi s stud y ex amined the experi e nce s of fami ly me mbe rs caring for a re lative d iagno sed with
sc hi zo phre ni a in Eth io pia . Prev ious stu die s ind icated that fa mil y me mbers prov id in g ca re fo r
their loved o ne w ith schi zo phreni a experie nced many chall enges in the co ur se of care-givin g.
T ho ugh fa mil y memb ers experience both enri chme nts a nd chall enges in carin g fo r th e ir loved
one with ment a l illn ess little attent io n is paid to the comprehens ive expe ri e n ces of fa mi ly
me mb ers. This s tudy addressed th e afore mention ed iss ue and contribute d to limited studi es
on psy chi atr ic co ndi t ions in Ethi op ia whe re ther e are limited services, com mu nity service
o rgani zations, or legal fra me- works o n ment al illness. Th e s tud y use d a q ua litati ve ca se stud y
approa ch . In-depth interviews were conducted w ith eight purposely selected parti ci pa nt s.
Co ntent anal ys is was used to ana lyze th e data and identi fy the mes. The study indi cated a
va riety of impacts of caregivin g such as psycho -social and ec onomi c as we ll as enrichme nts
such as pro gress on the illness , teaching th eir experi ences, de ri vi n g hop e fro m th e situat io n,
and satisfact ion fro m sharin g experi ences with others. The stud y also indi cated that
enco uragi ng indep ende nce , fulfilling n eeds, ignorance for a whil e (no res p onse on th e
situati on immedi ately), communicati on and disc uss ion w ith famil y as maj or ways of
managing th e caregivin g res p o ns ibilit y. Und erstanding caregivers' experiences may be use ful
in pro mptin g governme nts and service provid ers to in vest in educati on a nd support progra ms
aimed at helping careg ivers to cope with th is stress and deal wi th the pr obl e m be havio urs
assoc iat ed with the illness.
Key words: schi zophreni a - Ethi opi a - careg iv in g- coping
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Keywords
schi zophrenia, Ethiopia, caregiving, coping