Information and decision-making needs of psychiatric patients: the perspective of relatives

Sarah Liebherz; Lisa Tlach; Martin Härter; Jörg Dirmaier

doi:10.7717/peerj.3378

Information and decision-making needs of psychiatric patients: the perspective of relatives

PeerJ. 2017 Jul 6:5:e3378. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3378. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Sarah Liebherz¹, Lisa Tlach¹, Martin Härter¹, Jörg Dirmaier¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.

Abstract

Background: Mental illness may strongly affect relatives' lives. Therefore, it is important to empower relatives by providing health information according to their preferences.

Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted using a purpose-designed questionnaire on online health information and decision-support needs.

Results: Prevalent reasons for online health information search of the 185 participating relatives were the need for general information and the insufficiency of the information given by the health care provider. The most difficult treatment decisions concerned the treatment setting (inpatient or outpatient) as well as the psychopharmacological treatment.

Discussion: Since psychiatric patients' relatives report extensive information and decision-support needs, it is essential to address their needs in health information material. Assessment of relatives' needs when developing health information materials is recommended.

Keywords: Computer/internet technology; Empirical supported treatment; Psychiatric patients’ relatives; Treatment decisions.

Grants and funding

psychenet is a project network funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (funding code 01KQ1002B). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.