Effects of Psycho-educational Program on Knowledge and Attitude upon Schizophrenia of Schizophrenic Patients ’ Caregivers

Background: Schizophrenia is mainly characterized by chronic psychotic symptoms such as delusions, hallu-cinations, and negative symptoms such as social withdrawal. These symptoms cause behavior problems, i.e. aggressive behavior, violence, or social isolation that affect the patients ’ lives, and the health status and daily routine of caregivers or family members. Psychological distress or burden of caregivers often results in poor care provided to these patients. Most studies showed that high expressed emotion in the family leads to high a relapse rate of schizophrenia. The psycho-educational program is aimed to provide education about this disorder, help the caregivers to deal with the patients ’ problems more effectively, reduce psychological dis-tress of caregivers, and provide social support for caregivers. Objective: Study the effects of psycho-educational program on knowledge and attitude of schizophrenia on caregivers of schizophrenic patients. Material and Method: The participants completed the one-day psycho-educational program run by a team of psychiatrists in the Department of Psychiatry, Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. The psycho-educational program was composed of didactic session on schizophrenia, group discussion, and communication skill building. The participants were evaluated for the knowledge and attitude, before and after the program. The mean scores of knowledge, attitude before and after the program were compared by using paired t-test