Family Tree is currently providing Family Intervention Therapy to a small number of families as part of a pilot project in partnership with Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust and funded by NHS Wirral. Supervision of staff is provided by Edge Hill University.
Members of staff working on the project are almost all employees of the CWP and have either been seconded to the project or are doing it in a voluntary capacity. All have had some training in Family Intervention – some on a full-time University course and some on courses put on by Family Tree and delivered by the Meriden Project which is an expert in this field. For more details on the Meriden Project follow the link to www.meridenfamilyprogramme.com
The rationale for providing Family Interventions
Family Interventions for people with schizophrenia and their families effectively reduce relapse rates during treatment and after treatment at follow-up and reduce hospital admissions during the treatment programmes when compared to all other interventions.
Family Interventions improve outcomes for service users and reduce the burden on carers … the benefits are most marked if treatment is provided over a period of more than six months or for more than 10 planned sessions and if the service user is included in the family sessions
Caring has a negative impact on carers’ mental health….carers of people with mental illness who are able to access the right information and support experience fewer adverse health effects themselves.
