Psychoeducation: perspectives from individuals on sick leave who are at risk of having a mental disorder

Abstract

The large number of people on sickness and disability benefits due to mental disorders in Denmark has increased the need for improved rehabilitative services to facilitate their return to work. The aim of the present study was to explore the use of psychoeducation in relation to the standard services of a Danish job centre for individuals on sick leave with regard to relevance, elements contributing to recovery, and improvements of psychoeducation as an intervention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 individuals on sick leave who were at risk of having a mental disorder. The interviews were analysed using systematic text condensation inspired by Giorgi’s phenomenological analysis. The resulting core themes describing psychoeducation with respect to the standard services of the job centre included access and relevance of psychoeducation in relation to the job centre’s standard services, social support, self-care, and psychoeducation intervention. This study concludes that the informants consider psychoeducation a relevant offer to individuals on sick leave who are at risk of having a mental disorder. The relevance of the standard services of the job-centre services was considered to be low. Furthermore, psychoeducation reinforces peer support and inclusion of relatives as elements to aid recovery to a much larger extent than do the standard services of the job centre. In general, the results support the use of psychoeducation in a municipal job-centre setting as a targeted and beneficial offer to individuals on sick leave who are at risk of having a mental disorder.