Psychoeducational approach with chronically mentally ill Chinese-Americans: A cultural framework.
Item
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Title
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Psychoeducational approach with chronically mentally ill Chinese-Americans: A cultural framework.
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Identifier
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AAI9009793
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identifier
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9009793
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Creator
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Tom, Lily M.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Rebecca Donovan
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Date
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1989
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social Work | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies | Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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A culturally relevant psychoeducational program was designed to help Chinese-American chronic mental patients increase their knowledge of Western concepts of mental illness and treatment. This program was conducted in a continuing treatment program staffed with Chinese bilingual, bicultural workers. The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of the psychoeducational program on this particular population.;Patients in the continuing treatment program were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The experimental group participated in the psychoeducational program in addition to standard treatment protocol; the control group only attended the regularly scheduled treatment activities. A set of questionnaires comprised of three instruments (Knowledge About Schizophrenia Questionnaire, Opinions About Mental Illness, and Client Satisfaction Questionnaire) were used to measure the patients' knowledge of mental illness and treatment, their opinions concerning mental illness, and their satisfaction with services. A week after the experimental group completed the psychoeducational program, both experimental and control groups answered this set of questionnaires, and the staff were instructed to rate both groups' level of participation in the continuing treatment program by using another instrument, the Task Check List.;One-tailed t tests were used to compare the difference between the mean scores of the two groups on the four instruments. Results showed that the experimental group was significantly more knowledgeable about Western concepts of mental illness and treatment than the control group. This finding was further substantiated by the qualitative data obtained. No significant differences were found between the two groups in their opinions regarding mental illness, satisfaction with program services, or their motivation for treatment. These findings suggest that psychoeducation is a useful treatment method for Chinese-American chronic patients in helping them to better understand their illness, to become more familiar with the mental health services available in the United States, and to make informed choices regarding their treatment. Utilization and treatment compliance may increase as a result of this knowledge. This investigation is exploratory in nature and future studies are needed to verify the effectiveness of this treatment approach with Chinese as well as other Asian Americans.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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D.S.W.
