Abstract
Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are chronic multifactorial illnesses with frequent relapses. Mutual cooperation between psychiatrist, patient and family improves prognosis.
However both patient and family members might become competent partners in the treatment only after receiving relevant information about the illness and treatment. Relevant, deep, broad and current information is delivered by psychoeducation.
Psychoeducation is evidence-based, low-cost intervention that can prevent relapse, reduce rehospitalizations and improve several functional outcomes. Despite this fact it is not offered to patients on regular basis.
Family psychoeducation was offered to less than 10% of families in the USA. A postal survey of all psychiatrie institutions in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland came to conclusion that a mean of 21% of the patients with schizophrenia and 2% of their family members had taken part in psychoeducation in the responding institutions in 2003.
In 2009 a detailed survey was performed in the Czech Republic among professionals and health care consumers, both patients and their relatives. The goal of the survey was to evaluate where, when and how psychoeducation for schizophrenia was provided and to obtain opinion about psychoeducation among respondents.
Psychoeducation for schizophrenia was offered only by 46 facilities out of 550 inpatient, outpatient and community protaviders. Despite the evidence that patients and their relatives wish to receive disease - specific psychoeducation after discharge from the hospital, most providers offer only inpatient and diagnostically heterogenous programmes.
The most effective form of psychoeducation - family psychoeducation - was offered only by 15 providers. Psychoeducation participants - both patients and relatives - had better knowledge about the illness and its management than non-participants.
This monograph on family psychoeducation in schizophrenia has two parts.