In recent years there has been a shift in the long-term treatment of patients living
with schizophrenia, the institutional focus being increasingly replaced by outpatient
and community-based interventions. Relatives of patients with schizophrenia play a
key role in treatment, greatly assisting the monitoring of patients' condition and
facilitating their involvement in long-term care. The challenges associated with the
varied symptoms of schizophrenia place an increased burden on family members, including
psychological distress often accompanied by a deterioration in quality of life. In
this context, the literature and international protocols highlight the need for interventions
involving the patients' family, which in most cases focus on psychoeducation and development
of communication skills. At the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis
University, we have initiated and organized psychoeducational support groups for relatives
of patients living with schizophrenia since August 2019. The first half of the 10-session
training focuses on providing information about the disease, therapeutic options,
and relapse prevention, reflecting on the family members' own experiences. In the
second half of the training, we focus on the psychological difficulties that family
members face in their daily lives, such as stress management and communication problems
within the family, stigmatization and decreased self-care. In this article besides
summarizing the literature, we present the structure of the training for relatives
and our experiences with the process of the groups, including our future plans and
possibilities for improvement.
