[First contact with psychiatric services: what do relatives caring for schizophrenia patients need?].

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the problems and needs for interventions among caregivers of patients with schizophrenia who were the first time in contact with psychiatric services.
METHODS: 93 family caregivers of schizophrenia patients during the first contact with services were investigated by means of the the "Carer's Needs Assessment for Schizophrenia" (CNA-S).
RESULTS: The most frequent problems of caregivers of first contact patients with schizophrenia were insufficient information on mental illness and concerns about the patient's future. Individual psychoeducation was needed significantly more often among caregivers of first contact patients than among those having been previously in contact with psychiatric services.
CONCLUSION: Those being the first time in contact with psychiatric services need some specific interventions significantly more often than later. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.