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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Christina Marshall, PhD and Phyllis Solomon, PhD. School of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania, 3701 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 301-963-9529, emerge74@starpower.net
Evidence has found family interventions for those with an adult relative with severe mental illness to be effective. Consequently, best practice guidelines have recommended the inclusion of family interventions into routine practice when serving those with severe psychiatric disorders. Yet, family interventions are rarely implemented in routine practice. Provider concerns related to confidentiality are frequently seen as a barrier to family involvement. The presentation will report on the results of a pilot study of a model intervention to clarify confidentiality policies and to provide procedures for releasing information to families/significant others. A quasi-experimental design was employed to determine the effectiveness of the confidentiality intervention in improving collaboration among providers, consumers and families. The experimental intervention was implemented in one community mental health agency and compared to a comparable cmh agency in the same county which continued with their usual practices related to the release of confidential information to families. Results found that providers who followed the model intervention as designed were more likely to collaborate with families of their clients. Observations on barriers and levers to implement such procedures to releasing information to families as well as why these are important to enhancing evidence based practice with families of adults with SMI served in the public mh system will be discussed.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to
Keywords: Sever Mental Illness, Caregivers
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.