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Family Members’ Experiences in a Psychiatric Hospital During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Family-Centered Work in Mental Health Systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2023

R. Shor  and
A. Shalev
R. Shor*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem
A. Shalev
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Work, Ashkelon Academic College, Ashkelon, Israel
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Restricted visitations of family members of persons with mental illness in psychiatric hospitals which may occur during times of public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic can have potential adverse consequences on the family members and on their ability to fulfill the caregiving role. Therefore, mental health professionals may encounter difficulties implementing a family centered-care model during such periods.

Objectives

Due to the limited knowledge about the effects of the restrictions during the pandemic a study was conducted in Israel. It examined the difficulties which family members experienced as a result of the restricted visitations and the effects of the restrictions on advancing a family-centered care model,

Methods

A semi-structured questionnaire was distributed via digital means to 75 family members who had a family member who was hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals during the pandemic.

Results

The findings indicate that family members had limited opportunities in the following areas during the COVID-19 area: Developing relationships with the professional staff, being involved in the therapeutic process during the hospitalization, communicating with the hospitalized family member, and receiving help for themselves.

Conclusions

Mental health professionals in psychiatric hospitals should adapt family-centric procedures to circumvent restrictions on physical presence and maintain the involvement of family members during psychiatric hospitalization.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 66 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry , March 2023 , pp. S598
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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