Social interventions such as psychoeducation, in conjunction with appropriate antipsychotic medications, positively impact schizophrenic patients' recovery. The aim of this 12-week study was to compare standard Indonesian mental healthcare for schizophrenia with psychoeducation-enriched care for family members, investigating both family and patient parameters. Sixty-four family participants meeting pre-set criteria were recruited from various online Indonesian community forums, social media, seminars/gathering events, and inpatient visits. Each family member was the main care provider for one patient with a schizophrenia diagnosis. Family participants were randomly allocated to one of two groups (control or intervention); both groups received equal personal time and attention from staff but the control group lacked the specific psychoeducational aspect of the intervention. In comparison with the control group, pre- and post-evaluation revealed significant positive effects in the intervention group for illness perception (F(ave) = 124.85; d(ave) = 2.72) and expressed emotion (OR(ave) = 0.39) among family members. For the patients, there was a significant positive effect on medication adherence (F(1, 62) = 21.54; p < 0.001, d(intervention) = 1.31) if their family members were in the intervention group. Partial least-squares path modeling revealed that low expressed emotion in family members was positively correlated with high medication adherence (β = -0.718; p < 0.001) in patients. This study provides evidence for the patient and family benefits of family psychoeducation on schizophrenia in a diverse Indonesian population.
Keywords: Indonesia; family intervention; illness perception; medication adherence; psychoeducation; schizophrenia.