A Qualitative Study of Family Experiences of the Peer Supported Family Intervention, Psychosis Recovery by Enabling Adult Carers at Home (Psychosis REACH), in an Early Psychosis Clinic.

Abstract

Introduction: Family members play an important role in supporting their loved ones with first episode psychosis (FEP), but few have access to interventions demonstrated to support them in this endeavour. Psychosis REACH (Recovery by Enabling Adult Carers at Home; p-REACH) is a family intervention for psychosis (FIp), delivered directly to families by clinicians and peers, that provides both psychoeducation and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for psychosis (CBT-p) informed skills to family carers. This study aimed to qualitatively explore family participants' experiences of receiving the p-REACH intervention and assess its feasibility and acceptability within an early psychosis service.

Methods: Following the p-REACH intervention, all participants were invited to partake in qualitative interviews and analysed using a Reflexive Thematic Analysis approach.

Results: Family carers reported positive experiences with the intervention. Key themes indicated that it helped build (1) internal resources, as participants valued increasing their knowledge and understanding of psychosis and learning skills to support themselves and their loved ones-leading to greater confidence and (2) external resources, as the group-based, peer-supported format enhanced their sense of connection with their loved ones and with other families.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the intervention was both feasible and acceptable to participants in an early psychosis setting. It contributes to the growing body of evidence supporting the positive impact of family interventions in psychosis, specifically the teaching of CBTp skills to caregivers of those with early psychosis.