Journey of Hope Program Evaluation
What is Journey of Hope?
The goals of the Journey of Hope (JOH) program are
twofold. First of all, the program provides basic education and skills training to families of persons with mental illness. JOH also gives these families the practical and emotional support
they need to sustain them in their role as primary caregivers. The JOH program consists of two parts: an eight-week education course and an ongoing support group. Family members participate
in the program according to their own needs and are not required to participate in both program components. JOH is offered nationwide by the JOH Institute, which is located in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana.
JOH was developed in 1993 by members of the National Alliance
for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). Founded on the belief that families are best equipped to offer education and support to other family members, all JOH education course teachers and support group
leaders are trained volunteer family members who have relatives with mental illness; they are not paid professionals. In addition to its family-to-family focus, JOH is unique in that, unlike other
family education and support programs, which require that participants be the parents of an adult with mental illness, JOH is available to any caregiver of a person with mental illness. This
includes all family members, friends, and any mental health service consumers who are themselves caring for a loved one with mental illness.
Evaluation
In order to determine whether JOH was achieving its goals, a
program evaluation funded by NAMI-Louisiana and the Center for Mental Health Services was conducted by Drs. Susan Pickett-Schenk and Judith Cook in 1996. This evaluation consisted of four
components:
- Mail surveys completed by a random sample of 424 JOH program participants. The mail surveys assessed individuals' demographic
characteristics, JOH program participation, overall program satisfaction, participation outcomes, and caregiving burden.
- Surveys completed by 1,910 education course participants and 362 education course teachers. These surveys were collected by
Dr. Joyce Burland, the creator of the education course. This course is now known as NAMI's Family-to-Family Education Course. Education course evaluations measured participants'
demographic characteristics, course content quality, satisfaction with the course, and impact of course on participants' relationships with their ill relatives. Teacher evaluations
consisted of four open-ended items soliciting information on how the class received the course, personal experiences teaching the course, willingness to teach the course again, and suggestions
for improving the course.
- Support group facilitator training questionnaires completed by 412 support group leaders. Items assessed changes in
participants' group facilitation skills.
- Focus groups in which 41 individuals provided feedback about their participation in the JOH program and made suggestions about ways
to improve the program.
Evaluation Results
Throughout each component of the evaluation,
participants were overwhelmingly positive about the Journey of Hope program and the ways in which participation in the program enhanced their ability to cope with their loved one's mental
illness. A summary of evaluation results is listed below.
- The majority of JOH participants were Caucasian, middle-aged mothers of sons with schizophrenia.
- JOH participants reported high degrees of satisfaction with both the education course and the support group.
- Overall JOH program participation outcomes included increased knowledge of the causes of mental illness and the methods used to
treat mental illness, better understanding of how to manage the ill family member's difficult behavior, and improved morale.
- Participation in the JOH program did not appear to affect caregiving burden.
- JOH education course participants gave high ratings to the quality of the course and its content.
- JOH education course teachers felt that the course increased participants' knowledge about the causes, course and treatment of
mental illness. They also stated that teaching the course was personally rewarding and that they planned to continue their involvement in the program.
- Support group leaders reported that the training sessions increased their ability to facilitate group meetings.
Program Recommendations
The following recommendations are based on evaluation
results and participants' suggestions about how to improve the program.
- Provide updated information on medications, particularly those recently approved for the use by the FDA.
- Provide information on changes in public entitlements, managed care, and legal issues affecting the treatment of persons with
mental illness.
- Use a variety of formats to present education course material, such as videotapes, slides, and guest speakers.
- Increase outreach efforts to families who are members of ethnic and racial minority groups.
- Increase outreach efforts to male family members as well as to siblings, adult children, and spouses of persons with mental illness.
-
Provide "refresher course" training
sessions to help education course
teachers and support group leaders
improve their skills.
-
The JOH Institute
has implemented many of these recommendations. For
example, the education course was
recently revised and includes
updated information on medication
and uses several different methods
to help participants
understand the causes of mental illness
and improve their coping skills.
Related Materals
Pickett-Schenk, S.A., Cook, J.A., & Laris, A. (2000). Journey of Hope Program Outcomes. Community Mental Health Journal, 36(4), 413-424.
To
order this Final
Evaluation Report or other materals
related to this project, visit
our Family Issues Publications page.
For
more information about the Journey
of Hope program, contact Donna
Mayeux, Acting Director of the
JOH Institute at dmmayeux@cox.net.
For
more information about NAMI's
Family-to-Family Education Program,
visit the NAMI
homepage.
JOH Program Evaluation Staff
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