Factors Associated with Family Involvement or Lack Thereof in Caring for Mental Health Care Users: A Qualitative Study

Family involvement in caring for people living with mental illness is significant for ideal positive treatment outcomes. Studies show that there are common factors that affect family members when involved in mental health care. The study aimed to explore and describe the factors associated with inadequate family involvement in caring for mental health care users. A qualitative explorative, descriptive, and contextual design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select data from family members and MHCUs admitted to long-term healthcare institutions. Data were collected concurrently with focused group interviews from the mental health care users and semi-structured interviews from the family members. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Three themes emerged from the results include: the attitude of family members towards carrying for mental health care users at home, the family burden in caring for mental health care users, and the lack of knowledge among family members. The study findings show that the attitude of family members towards carrying for mental health care users at home when discharged or granted leave of absence, impacts the odd behaviour of mental health care users. As a result, mental health care users are returned to the hospital before the expected return date.