Nursing model of psychoeducation for the seriously mentally ill patient

The purposes of this paper are to describe a nursing model for psychoeducation that is being implemented in the psychiatric unit of a Veterans Administration (V.A.) Hospital and to report baseline descriptive data for 19 seriously mentally ill patients. The data were collected as part of a larger study of patient, family, and treatment variables associated with community adjustment of seriously ill psychiatric patients. A convenience sample of 19 consenting patients with DSM-III-R diagnoses of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder were interviewed and assessed by a clinical nurse specialist. Nine consenting family members, identified by the patient as a key family member, were also interviewed. The baseline data reported here were generated in these interviews. These data were also used to develop psychoeducational plans to meet individual patient/family needs. The patients had had an average of 12 prior hospitalizations. Their mean age was 38 years; 74% were African-American and 89% were male. Patients reported a variety of understandings of the reason for their hospitalization and techniques for management of their symptoms. The most common ways of managing symptoms were categorized as physical activity, decreasing stimuli, and use of alcohol/drugs/smoking. Practical problems arising in association with the conduct of clinical research in a V.A. psychiatric setting by a research team are also discussed.