|
Journey of Hope Family Education Course Outcomes Project
The
Journey of Hope (JOH) is an 8-week education course
taught by trained volunteer family instructors
to other families of adults with mental illness.
Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health,
this five-year project examines the effectiveness
of the JOH course in improving families’ ability
to cope with their adult relatives’ illnesses,
and the extent to which families’ improved
coping affects their relatives’ functioning
and service use. Partners in this research include
the Louisiana Office of Mental Health and NAMI
Louisiana.
The
study is being conducted in three sites in Louisiana:
Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and New Orleans. In each
site, families were randomly assigned to either
immediate enrollment in a JOH course (intervention
group), or a course that began nine months later
(control group). All families participated in three
in-person interviews, conducted at the time they
enrolled in the study (baseline or Time 1), at
the end of the JOH course for intervention group
families (3 months post-baseline for control group
families or Time 2), and 6 months after the end
of the JOH course for intervention group families
(8 months post-baseline for control group families
or Time 3). Interviews assessed families’ knowledge
of the causes and treatment of mental illness,
problem-solving and communication skills, well-being,
social support, relationships with ill relatives,
and mental health service satisfaction. Relatives
with mental illness also were invited to participate
in the study and completed interviews that assessed
their medication adherence, social functioning,
and mental health service use.
Data
collection was completed in June 2004, and initial
study results are now available. A total of 462
families enrolled in the study, with 231 families
randomly assigned to the intervention group,
and 231 families randomly assigned to the control
group. Our results show several significant differences
between the intervention and control group families.
At both Time 2 and Time 3, compared to control
group participants, JOH course participants had
significantly: (1) greater knowledge of the causes
and treatment of mental illness, and problem-solving
and communication skills knowledge; (2) fewer information
needs; (3) fewer depressive symptoms; (4) less
negative views of their relationship with their
ill relatives; and (5) greater satisfaction with
their involvement in their relatives’ mental
health treatment. At Time 2 only, compared to control
group participants, JOH course participants reported
significantly higher levels of caregiving satisfaction,
and overall physical and emotional well-being.
These results suggest that there are several long-term
and short-term JOH course participation benefits.
Additionally, by giving families the information
they need to care and secure treatment for their
ill relatives, JOH may be one of the evidence-based
interventions that meets the President’s
New Freedom Commission’s recommendations
for transforming state mental health plans.
The JOH
fact sheet lists these long-term and
short-term course participation benefits, and course
satisfaction results.
For information about the JOH Family Education
Course Outcomes Project, contact Dr.
Susan Pickett-Schenk (Principal
Investigator).
Project Staff
Susan
Pickett-Schenk, Ph.D.
, Principal Investigator
Richard Lippincott, M.D., Co-Principal Investigator
Cynthia Bennett, M.A., Evaluation Coordinator
Pam Steigman , M.A., Data Coordinator
Steve Aguillard, M.S.W., Research Data
Analyst
Pam Cameron, L.C.S.W., Research Data Analyst
Jeanne Dunne, R.N ., Research Data Analyst
Rhonda Norwood, M.A., Research Data Analyst
|
