Self-help groups, family carers and mental health

Deinstitutionalization has changed both the setting and delivery of mental health care. Mental health nurses are now providing complex and diverse services in contexts that are often far removed from the traditional realms of health care provision. If they are to meet the challenge of contemporary and future mental health-care needs, it is essential that mental health nurses be aware and understand the changing mental health environment. One specific change that has received limited attention in the literature is the increase in socio-political awareness of family carers of people with mental illness, and the concomitant increase in their collective voice and influence through self-help groups.