Help-seeking behaviors in relatives of schizophrenics in Taiwan

Despite its merits, the Western-style psychiatric community rehabilitation model is not well accepted by caregivers in Taiwan. We examined factors affecting the utilization of community rehabilitation programs in Taiwan. Our stepwise logistic regression revealed that psychoeducation regarding the biological cause of schizophrenia emerged as the major factor for increasing utilization treatment modality. Eighty-nine pairs of schizophrenic patients (who had been recommended for rehabilitation) and their relatives were divided into two groups, the rehabilitation group and the nonrehabilitation group. Both groups were surveyed on help-seeking behavior scales and mental function measurements. The results showed no significant differences in patients' psychopathology, though the rehabilitation group had higher employment rates. As for caregivers, the rehabilitation group scored significantly better on some cognitive appraisals, whereas the nonrehabilitation group was more inclined to institutionalize the patients for life. No significant differences were noticed on rejection attitude, subjective care burden, or expressed emotion measures. Improving caregiver's knowledge about the disease, providing activities that lend emotional, physical, and financial support and thereby reduce the burden and increase the satisfaction of caregivers may be useful. Besides making the Western-style psychiatric community rehabilitation model more effective and accessible for patients and caregivers in Taiwan, cultural adaptation is also needed.