The Views of Mental Health Manager Towards the Use of a Family Work Model for Psychosis in Guangzhou, China

Family-oriented practice in disability Services in Hong Kong: A cross-sectoral social work perspectives in the fields of intellectual disability and mental illness

Supporting the families of people with disabilities has become a crucial aim of disability services. In disability services, where people with disabilities are usually positioned at the centre of service provision, family-oriented practice implies practice directions to work with clients' families in service delivery. The study aims at exploring how social workers in intellectual disability services and mental health services deliver a family-oriented practice in Hong Kong. We performed a qualitative analysis, using in-depth interview data collected from two broader studies about social workers' experiences in the fields of intellectual disability and mental illness respectively. Thirteen participants in intellectual disability settings and another 13 participants in mental health settings shared their understanding of and concern with family-oriented practice. Four themes were identified in the participants' accounts regarding the importance of family connectedness, family members' constructions of clients' identity, the scope of activities and the intervention space between individual and family. These findings reflect that family-oriented practice was jointly shaped by clients' family systems and disability service system, and shed light on the strategies for future service development at the broader systematic level.

Patients' and caregivers' knowledge and beliefs about mental illness in mainland China: A systematic review

This review aimed to systematically investigate patients' and caregivers' knowledge and beliefs about mental illness in mainland China. A total of 48 eligible studies (N = 11 895) were retrieved from eight electronic databases. Prevalence statistics were computed for themes (eg, stress) under each construct relating to knowledge or belief about mental illness (eg, beliefs about causes). Effect size r was calculated for each correlation with an identified construct. We found that only 27.8% of patients recognized the symptoms of schizophrenia. Although 65% of caregivers declared that they knew the names of the disorders that their ill relatives had, depression (43.6%), schizophrenia (28.5%) and anxiety disorders (18.1%) had low recognition rates. Both caregivers and patients preferred psychosocial explanations of mental illness. Pharmacological interventions (eg, antipsychotics), non-specific actives (eg, "getting out and learning more"), mental health professionals (eg, psychiatrists) and informal support (eg, family) were each considered helpful for different disorders by caregivers, whereas regular contact with mental health professionals was not highly rated as helpful by patients. Additionally, while more patients knew about the effects of the medications that they were taking, more caregivers emphasized the importance of medicine adherence. Psychosocial variables (eg, family burden) demonstrated significant effects on both groups' mental health literacy. The government should invest more in supporting caregivers of people with mental disorders and monitor the implementation of mental health policies.