ABSTRACT
Families play an essential role in supporting people with long-term mental ill-
ness in the community. Over 60% of those with a first episode of a major mental
illness return to live with relatives1, and this would seem to reduce by only
10-20% when those with subsequent admissions are included2. However, the
carer role is often not an easy one and may be associated with considerable
personal costs. In schizophrenia, estimates from different studies suggest
that up to two-thirds of family members experience significant stress and
subjective burden as a consequence of their caregiver role3. Not only is
such stress likely to affect the well-being of the relatives and compromise
their long-term ability to support the patient, but it may also have an impact on
the course of the illness itself and on outcomes for the patient. Hence one
of the most important advances in the treatment of schizophrenia in the
past 25 years has been the development of family based intervention programs.
