Family involvement to support cardiovascular self-management care for people with severe mental illness: a systematic review

Abstract

Background

Family members play a pivotal role in supporting cardiovascular self-management-based care of community-living adults with severe mental illness (SMI). However, little is known about what strategies caregivers employ as part of their caring roles.

Aim

This paper aims to explore what caregiving strategies work (or not), why and how by collating and synthesising existing evidence on this issue.

Methods

A systematic search of peer-reviewed qualitative and mixed-method studies published between 2000 and 2019 was employed. This comprehensive process generated only nine papers for subsequent meta-synthesis of qualitative data.

Results

Findings suggested that caregivers have a complex yet comprehensive role to play in initiating and perpetuating self-management-based cardiovascular care. The elements of recovery such as promoting hope, normality, autonomy and identity were flagged as critical underpinning factors that motivated the person with SMI to adopt a healthy lifestyle. However, it was evident that caregivers needed to walk alongside the person, at times, to help them reach their maximum potential in sustaining improved self-management behaviours.

Conclusion

Caregivers sit in a favourable bridging position between healthcare systems and community-living individuals with SMI, to support their cardiovascular health. However, this powerful but invisible ‘workforce’ clearly needs further support involving finance, skill-development and acknowledgement.

Keywords:

• Caregiver
• family
• severe mental illness
• cardiovascular health
• self-management
• recovery
• systematic review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).