Handling the Psychological Distress of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Feasibility of Group Work Approach

Autism Spectrum Disorders are pervasive developmental disorders affecting many children today. Parenting a child with special needs, such as children with autism, is very taxing, as they need intensive and life-long intervention in diverse areas. This paper is an attempt to assess the need of those parents of children with autism and to develop an intervention programme to take care of the psychosocial issues. The study had two phases. In the first phase 120 parents of children with autism spectrum disorders were interviewed using a semi structured interview schedule and GHQ 28. In the second phase, an intervention module was prepared and implemented with 20 parents. The results show that the mean psychological distress was significantly higher for mothers compared to fathers. The scores on subscales show that mothers have higher level of somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and depression compared to fathers. The pre and post analysis of the group intervention shows that there is a drop in the level of distress and increase in the awareness on child’s illness in parents after the group intervention. The findings show that addressing parental needs in a group setting can be very effective and beneficial in helping parents reduce their distress levels and hence making them better equipped to look after their child with a disability like autism

Psychiatric Social Work Interventions in Schizophrenia: A Case Report

Background: The chronic mental illnesses constitute substantial difficulties to person affected and the family. The difficulties could arouse due to the symptoms, functional disability, and stigma attached with the mental illness. Method: Using a single case method, we qualitatively evaluated the effectiveness of psychiatric social work interventions in a case of a person with chronic schizophrenia. The interventions were psychoeducation, social skill training, activity scheduling, supportive work and family interventions.  Result and Conclusion: In the qualitative assessment, we have found that these interventions were helpful in improving functional status and family environment Keywords: Psychiatric social work, schizophrenia, case wor

Recovery facilitation services in a mental health setting: the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) model

Chronic psychiatric illnesses cause disability. The language of recovery is now widely used globally in mental health policy, services, and research. This concept of recovery is relatively new to Indian mental health settings. The Recovery Facilitation Services initiated at the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS), Kozhikode (Calicut), Kerala, South India, follows a framework for service delivery based on sound principles of psychosocial rehabilitation. This paper elaborates on the rationale, the design, financial aspects, challenges encountered, and general observations regarding the effectiveness of the working of this service