[Psycho-educational family group for psychiatric patients of various diagnoses]

The effectiveness of an eight-session psychoeducational group intervention with family members of psychiatric inpatients was evaluated in terms of benefits for the patients' clinical outcome, relatives' perceived burden and changes in qualitative aspects in family member-patients interactions. The study involved 12 inpatients and 16 immediate adult family members. At the nine-month follow-up the relapse rate was zero percent. Moreover, another effect was the decrease in family members' perceived burden. Additional findings also showed reductions in family members' facial expression of hostility in interaction with the patient. Results suggest that a psychoeducational intervention with family members of patients with different diagnoses may be effective as part of an inpatient treatment program.