TITLE:
Help received from relatives and services to satisfy needs of adults with severe mental disorders
AUTHORS:
Marie-Josée Fleury, Guy Grenier, Jean-Marie Bamvita
KEYWORDS:
Help from Relatives; Help from Services; Needs Assessment; Severe Mental Disorders; Service Utilisation
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.5 No.2,
February
28,
2013
ABSTRACT: Background: Few studies have
considered the impact of demographic and clinical variables on help received
respectively from services and relatives to satisfy needs of adults with severe
mental disorders (SMD). Purposes: To identify major needs receiving
help and, using the Andersen’s Behavioural Model of
Health Service Use, to identify and compare predisposing, enabling and need
factors associated with help given respectively by services and relatives. Methods:
352 adults with SMD from Montreal (Canada) were interviewed using six standardized
instruments. Clinical records were consulted. Multiple linear regression
analyses were processed to measure level of help received from relatives and
services. Results: Factors significantly associated with help from relatives
were: higher number of perceived needs; fewer diagnoses; better community
functioning; being younger, and in a conjugal relationship; living
autonomously; having social support and better quality of life; and,
marginally, being an immigrant. Factors significantly associated with help
from services were: higher number of perceived needs, better quality of life,
supervised housing, adjustment disorder and schizophrenia. Conclusions: Help
overall is insufficient to meet users’ needs. Services are more helpful than
relatives, in particular regarding health needs. Comparatively to help from
services, help from relatives is associated with predisposing factors
like age, marital status and nationality.