PEPP offers support and education to families of clients who are experiencing a first episode of psychosis. The family intervention consists of two components: a psycho-educational workshop and individual family intervention provided by the social worker, case manager and psychiatrist. The following is a description of each intervention.
The psycho-educational workshop is based on the Hogarty and Anderson model of Family Psycho-education (Hogarty et al, 1986). The model has been modified specifically for the target populations.
The workshop is an eight-hour interdisciplinary team effort which provides an overview of psychosis through lectures, slide presentations, video materials and open discussion with family members of first episode clients. The workshop is held in the Education Centre about every three months. The number of family members participating in the workshop is limited to a maximum of 20-25 persons as larger groups tend to reduce the informal interactions between participants.
The overall purpose of the workshop is to impress upon relatives that psychosis is a brain disorder which can be positively influenced by family participation in the recovery process. Of note, the information provided during the workshop is quite broad and not client specific. The information provided to families during that day often needs to be repeated many times over in the course of the two-year follow-up. A manual of the workshop proceedings is available and includes each segment of presentation material with overheads and video scenarios. The specific issues covered in the afternoon include dealing with diagnostic uncertainty, stigma, substance abuse, issues of identity and intimacy, resuming functioning for the patient and the family, etc.
