Project Information
- Project title
- Subjective Quality of Life and Perceived Control in Carers of people with mental illness: Pre and post participation in an educational course
- Researcher(s)
- Rachel Cousins (Deakin University), supervised by Professor Robert Cummins
- Postal address
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Rd, Burwood 3125.
- Project dates
- Completion March 2001
- Nature of the project
- A research collaboration between Schizophrenia Fellowship of Victoria and Deakin University.
- Brief description
This research investigated the subjective quality of life and perceived control of carers of people with mental illness participating in educational courses run by the Schizophrenia Fellowship of Victoria. The research aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate and compare two different educational courses, 'Journey of Hope' and '14 Principles of Coping'. The results of the qualitative analysis showed that carers in both courses found the opportunity to share their experiences with others in similar situations was helpful.
However, more feedback was provided on the helpfulness of information about mental illness by participants in the Journey of Hope course, and more feedback was provided on the helpfulness of techniques for dealing with mental illness by participants in the 14 Principles course. The quantitative analysis showed no differences between the two courses. Pre and post course measures showed that both courses were found to significantly improve carers' knowledge about a range of issues related to mental illness. Furthermore, those carers with low subjective quality of life showed significant improvement in their quality of life following participation in an educational course. No significant changes in perceived control were found pre and post participation in an educational course.
- More information (doc ~ 324kb)