A study to determine the knowledge and practice of the family towards prevention of relapses in patients with schizophrenia in lusaka urban.

Abstract

The study, therefore, aims to determine the level of knowledge and practice of the family towards prevention of relapses in patients with schizophrenia. With the deinstitutionalization movement, greater emphasis has been placed on viewing mentally ill people as members of the families and communities. Family members need to be strengthened to continue providing health care to their schizophrenic relatives at home. The extended families that provide the needed health care may have inadequate knowledge on how to go about caring for their sick. A non interventional, descriptive qualitative and quantitative study was carried out to explore the level of knowledge and practice of the families towards prevention of relapses in patients with schizophrenia in Lusaka urban District; the pilot and the main study was conducted at Chainama Hills Hospital. Data collection was conducted during the month of August and September. A sample size of (50) fifty respondents was selected using a convenient sampling method. Data was collected from the respondents through the use of a structured interview schedule with both open and closed ended questions. The data has been interpreted and the findings will be disseminated to Chainama Hills Hospital management and the Nursing services to help the institution implement measures that will promote families of schizophrenia patients to have adequate knowledge and practice towards prevention of relapses in patients with schizophrenia. The study revealed that the majority (58%) of the respondents were females. This could be attributed to the fact that there are more females than males in Zambia and also the fact there are more females are generally carers of the sick. The study also revealed that (45.5%) of the respondents whose highest level of education was college had very good knowledge while (18.2%) of the respondents whose highest level of education is primary education had poor knowledge. The findings could be due to the fact that the level of education influences the individual's understand of the information given on how to go about caring for their discharged relatives since they can follow instructions.