Résultats de recherche

1. Objectifs

Intentions :
- « The purpose of this project is to decribe a process of intervention focusing on Italian families dealing with a family member who suffers from a mental illness such as schizophrenia. » (p. 3)
- Objectifs d’intervention : « a) Develop effective intervention capacities and to acquire a better understanding of problems faced by Italians family whereby a member is affected with mental illness. b) To give as much support to families as possible. c) tho have participants evaluate their experiences of the group. » (p. 5)
- Objectifs spécifiques : « a) Supply families with adequate information and training which correspond to their needs and expectations. b) to offer families a meeting place where they can exchange life experiences. c) to foster exchange in a mutual aid context.d) To offer a meeting place where families can speak their mother tongue (Italian) » (p. 5)
- Objectifs généraux : » a) To improve the quality of life of Italian families. b) To improve the understanding of mental illness for family members. c) To help families identify when the mentally ill person goes through a crisis. » (p. 5)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
- Rencontres de groupe et entrevues de 1h-11/2 h avec 13 parents (3 dont l’enfant résidait en institution (Douglas Hospital Center, et 10 dont l’enfant résidait à la maison. Seulement 6 personnes ont participé aux rencontres de groupe.
- « All the parents were born in Italy and their age ranged from fifty to seventy years. The average years of formal education is 6.1 years. Only one mother had more than five years of scholastic education. None of the six parents who participated in the group sessions was working at the time of the interview. Three were on old age security, three were housewives who are dependant on their husbands. All six participants had to some extent accepted the illness of their mentally ill son or daughter. » (p. 62)

Instruments :
Schéma d’entrevue

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

« More and more people are becoming interested in mental health issues for it touches families and people from all walks of life. According to Trottier (1986), mental illness is a global phenomena for it affects every aspect of the mentally ill person’s life. In general, families who live with someone suffering from a mental illness such as ’schizophrenia’ experience guilt and stress. Italian families, for example, experience such difficulties even more so since they are a closed society. Language barriers may prevent such families to receive information that may better help them to cope under such circumstances. This project was presented and accepted at the Douglas Hospital Center. This teaching hospital treats people who suffer from various illnesses including schizophrenia, manic depression, clinical depression, baulimia, annerexia, and many other mental illnesses and disorders. Furthermore, the aim of this project was to reach out and inform Italian families who have a member of the family suffering from schizophrenia. This was done by setting up a support group for Italians whereby the exchange between members would be in Italian. The article by Saint-Onge et al. (1995) discusses how mothers who have a mentally illl child have mention how useful it was for them to receive information from various professionals. The information given motivated the mothers to intervene with their ill family member hence, feeling more empowered. During the exchange that occured in the group sessions, many parents who had a schizophrenic son or daughter expressed their difficulty in accepting the illness, the lack of information they received as well as the various problems encountered living with a schizophrenic child. » (p. 2)