title: Provider contact with families of adults with severe mental illness: taking a closer look.
abstract: This exploratory study examined the frequency and nature of providers' contact with families of persons with severe mental illness. Fifty-nine providers in six community mental health programs completed a self-administered survey. A subsample of 8 providers also completed two in-depth interviews. Although most providers had some family contact, the contact was restricted to a small percent of their caseloads. The nature of contact that providers have with families is generally limited by their professional role. Best practice guidelines for the treatment of mental illness and agency administrators responsible for instituting these guidelines will need to clarify the types of providers who are expected to implement various aspects of family involvement.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Specialist, Systems Evaluation Center, Mental Health Systems Improvement Collaborative, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21227, USA. tmarshal@psych.umaryland.edu
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Phyllis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Solomon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019090:Case Management; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders; D008875:Middle Aged; D015143:Philadelphia; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D012944:Social Support