Schizophrenia- Family Therapy Flashcards
(9 cards)
What is family therapy?
A form of psychotherapy based on the idea that as family dysfunction can play a role in development and maintenance of SZ, altering relationships and communication patterns within dysfunctional families and especially lowering levels of expressed emotion, should help with SZ to recover
Therefore, the treatment involves the whole family and not just the diagnosed member
The main aims of the therapy?
1) Improve positive and decrease negative forms of communication
2) Increase tolerance levels and decrease criticism levels between family member
3) Decrease feelings of guilt and responsibility for causing the illness among family members
How it works?
Therapists meet regularly with patients AND family members for 9 months- a year
Focus= reduce symptoms and allow family members to develop skills, also helps to reduce stress levels and increase the chances of the patient complying with medication
The combination of benefits tends to result in reduced likelihood of relapse and re-admission to hospital
[S] McFarlane et al (2003)
Reviewed available evidence to find that family therapy results in reduced relapse rates, symptom reduction in patients and improved relationships with family members
Leads to increased well-being for patients, this suggests that family therapy is an effective treatment, with an indication that better family relationships are the key element
[S] Pharoah et al (2010)
Reviewed the evidence for the effectiveness of family therapy and concluded that there is moderate evidence to show that family therapy significantly reduces hospital readmission over the course of a year and improves the quality of life for patients and their families
[C]
Also noted that results of different studies were inconsistent and that there were problems with the quality of some evidence
Overall the evidence base for family therapy is fairly weak
Effectiveness of family therapy
Useful for younger patients who still live at home with their families and for patients who lack insight into their illness.
SZ treatment (psychology in the economy)
The Schizophrenia Commission (2012)
- Estimated that family therapy is cheaper than standard care by around £1000 per patient over 3 years, suggesting it is a relatively cost-effective treatment
Combination of treatments?
Generally the most effective treatment method!
Anti-psychotics are given first to reduce symptoms, then the psychological treatment will have greater effect- the anti-psychotic will generally still be administered will this is happening
