Carers' perspectives on mental health consumers' use of antipsychotic medication: A multidimensional scalogram analysis

Mental health caregivers commonly have detailed insight about consumers’ lives, and therefore often have developed an understanding of the manner in which antipsychotic medication affects consumers. This study explored caregivers’ perspectives of key factors that influence mental health consumers’ use of antipsychotic medications. The analysis was based on transcripts of interviews which were conducted with caregivers of mental health consumers. Each transcript was categorically coded across 12 variables to generate a series of data profiles. The data set was then analysed using multidimensional scalogram analysis to identify associations between subsets of variables. The findings demonstrated that mental health consumers tended to adhere to prescribed antipsychotic medications despite experiencing troubling side effects. Such adherence occurred when caregivers participated in discussions about medications, and health professionals monitored side effects vigilantly and altered medications to reduce side effects. Also, caregivers were generally unsettled about the impact of medication side effects on consumers’ lives, but conceded that benefits of medications typically outweighed the adverse effects. Further studies are warranted to strengthen the findings of this study