A scoping review of Chinese families caring for a relative with mental illness

ABSTRACT

Families may experience the negative impact of caring for a relative with a mental illness. With a growing number of Chinese people living in many countries, no recent review has been conducted to analyze the literature concerning the caregiving experience of Chinese families and possible family interventions to support them. A scoping review was conducted to identify relevant peer-reviewed articles published in the last 10 years. A total of 48 articles were found describing the experience of caregiving and family interventions. The opportunities for social work to advance research and practice with Chinese families are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Chinese
• caregivers
• families
• mental illness
• burden
• family intervention

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales.