Experiences and Perspectives of Families of Psychiatric Hospitalisation of Their Adult Family Member: A Qualitative Systematic Review.
Jane Karpa, Amanda Kenny, Andrea Thomson and 3 others
PMID 40635155WHAT IT FOUND
Families of adults hospitalised for mental illness described feeling excluded, unheard and treated as outsiders by inpatient staff.
They said experiences became more positive when staff shared information in everyday language, respected their knowledge, and involved them in care and discharge planning.
Key findings
01Families described the hospital mental health system as marginalising them, undervaluing their knowledge, and treating them as outsiders.
02Withholding information, not explaining it in everyday language, and holding last-minute discharge meetings made families feel excluded and invalidated.
03Families reported more positive experiences when staff were open, respected their knowledge, shared updates, and involved them in care and discharge planning.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This is a qualitative synthesis, so it describes experiences and meanings rather than measuring whether any practice change improves patient or family outcomes. The search was limited to English-language peer-reviewed publications and graduate theses, so non-English perspectives and grey literature may be missing. Included studies varied in country, setting, illness type, and family relationships, and some studies included carers alongside service users and professionals; the review focused on carer-specific findings, so other perspectives may have been missed. The review did not exclude studies based on quality, and included studies gave varying detail about methods, ethics, and researcher influence. Findings are based on formal research participants, not all families, and may not transfer directly to community services or other settings.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Brandon University is named as funder.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that family involvement improves clinical outcomes. The review synthesises qualitative experiences, not tested interventions, so it shows what families said helped or harmed their experience, not what will change recovery.