Family members' perspectives on the acceptability and impact of a co-facilitated information programme: the EOLAS mental health programme.

BACKGROUND: Despite the critical role families play in the care and recovery journeys of people who experience enduring mental distress, they are often excluded by the mental health services in the care and decision-making process. International trends in mental health services emphasise promoting a partnership approach between service users, families and practitioners within an ethos of recovery. OBJECTIVE: This paper evaluated the acceptability of and initial outcomes from a clinician and peer co-led family information programme. METHODS: A sequential design was used involving a pre-post survey to assess changes in knowledge, confidence, advocacy, recovery and hope following programme participation and interviews with programme participants. Participants were recruited from mental health services running the information programme. In all, 86 participants completed both pre- and post-surveys, and 15 individuals consented to interviews. RESULTS: Survey findings indicated a statistically significant change in family members' knowledge about mental health issues, recovery attitudes, sense of hope and confidence. In addition, the interviews suggested that the programme had a number of other positive outcomes for family members, including increased communication with members of the mental health team and increased awareness of communication patterns within the family unit. Family members valued the opportunity to share their experiences in a 'safe' place, learn from each other and provide mutual support. CONCLUSION: The evaluation highlights the importance of developing information programmes in collaboration with family members as well as the strength of a programme that is jointly facilitated by a family member and clinician.

Outcomes of a co-facilitation skills training programme for mental health service users, family members, and clinicians: the EOLAS project.

Health policy is increasingly advocating for involvement of service users and family members in service development. In the present study, we evaluated the impact of a 4-day education programme in co-facilitation skills on clinician and peer (service users and family members) knowledge, confidence, and subsequent experience as co-facilitators. The programme was designed to train peers and clinicians as co-facilitators on a clinician and peer-led information programme for people experiencing mental health problems. The study employed a mixed-methods design involving a pre-post survey with 128 participants, and follow-up qualitative interviews with a sample of 17 participants. To examine changes in levels of knowledge and confidence in facilitating from time 1 (T1) to time 2 (T2), paired sample t-tests were conducted, and thematic analysis was conducted on the interviews. The programme had a statistically-significant positive impact on participants' knowledge, confidence, and skills, with no significant difference between the facilitator groups (i.e. service user, family member, and clinician) in terms of their improvement at the end of the training, indicating that all groups benefited equally from the training. A majority of participants reported a high level of preparedness as co-facilitators and an open and respectful approach towards each other's expertise, and many continued to gain skills and develop their confidence as they co-facilitated the 8-week EOLAS programme ('eolas' is the Irish word for knowledge). The findings also provide evidence of the acceptability and feasibility of the programme, and appears to be the first detailed study reported on a programme of this nature.