title: Walking a mile in their shoes... Symbolic interactionism for families living with severe mental illness.
abstract: 1. With deinstitutionalization and changes in legal rights of patients, care of patients with severe mental illness has shifted from a hospital-based to a community-centered system. 2. Families often serve as an extension of the mental health system, providing important case management functions such as assessment, monitoring, crisis management, and advocacy. 3. Symbolic interactionism provides a framework for understanding the role of meaning in individual and family responses to the disruption of life that results from severe mental illness.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saunders
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D019090:Case Management; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006701:Home Nursing; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D016294:Models, Nursing; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control; D013561:Symbolism