title: Interactional aspects of care during hospitalization: perspectives of family caregivers of psychiatrically ill in a tertiary care setting in India.
abstract: There are very few studies on user-perspectives about mental health care services that explore perspectives of family caregivers in India. An exploratory study was undertaken to understand the perceived importance of various aspects of interactions with mental health service providers during hospitalization, from the perspectives of family caregivers. In addition, it also aimed at documenting their actual experience of interactional aspects of care during the hospitalization of their relatives. The study was conducted on fifty family caregivers of patients with varied psychiatric diagnoses hospitalized in a tertiary psychiatric care setting in South India. Measures of Interactional aspects of care were developed to assess perceived importance of six different interactional domains of care and the actual experience of care in these domains. Provision of informational inputs and addressing of concerns raised emerged as the domains of care given highest importance. The item pertaining to 'sharing with the caregiver about different alternatives for treatment' received negative ratings in terms of actual experience by maximum number of participants (18%). Significant differences on perceived importance of four domains of interactional aspects of care (dignity, confidentiality and fairness, addressing concerns raised, informational inputs and prompt attention and consistent care) emerged between caregiver subgroups based on educational level of the caregiver, socio-economic status, hospitalization history and broad diagnostic categories. In addition, the care givers of patients with psychoses assigned significantly more positive ratings on actual experience for all the domains of interactional aspects of care. The findings have implications for further research and practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and NeuroSciences, Bangalore 560029, India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dinakaran
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore 560029, India. Electronic address: drmehrotra_seema@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mehrotra
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and NeuroSciences, Bangalore 560029, India.
authors.forename: Srikala
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bharath
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D063128:Tertiary Health Care
keywords: Family caregivers; Health system responsiveness; Interactional aspect of care; Mental health service delivery; Mental health service quality