Families and schizophrenia: the view from advocacy

Historically, families of persons who have schizophrenia often were blamed for the development of the condition and subsequently might have been excluded from care. Now these notions, which never had much systematic empiric support, have been abandoned. Family involvement often is critical to the recovery process and must be engaged actively whenever possible. This article calls for the inclusion of patients who have schizophrenia and their families in a redesigned model of care that is explicitly collaborative in its orientation and routinely includes evidence-based treatments that are informed by a vision of recovery.