FAMILIES OF PSYCHIATRIC-PATIENTS - A CRITICAL-REVIEW AND FUTURE-RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

It is generally acknowledged that mental illness creates burdens for f amily caregivers. Since the 1950s, medical literature has identified t he type and extent of those burdens, especially for families of patien ts with schizophrenia, Whereas the imperative to identify intervention s for these families is clear, there has been a lack of systematic res earch of families' responses to and management of mental illness, resu lting in significant gaps in knowledge, The rapidly changing health-ca re environment suggests that our understanding of families' responses to mental illness need to be reexamined for current relevance and new insights, This article critically examines the research to date and id entifies gaps in knowledge related to family experience of mental illn ess, It argues the need to continue studies of caregiver burden and th e stress resulting from that burden, Future directions for research ar e suggested. (C) 1996 by W.B. Saunders Company