Project Teulu
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of the introduction of the pilot Family Liaison Meetings (FLM) to two inpatient Rehabilitation and Recovery units within Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board.
IRAS ID
164143
Contact name
Andrea Davies
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Research Summary
Research and government policy has emphasised the importance of everyday involvement of a patient’s family in their care. However, there are a number of issues with such involvement including; a lack of specific skills training for staff working with families and attitudes of staff creating a barrier to effective engagement with family members. It has been suggested that whole team, extended training programmes, increase self-ratings of staff competence when working with families, address unhelpful staff attitudes towards families and increases health professional – patient contact. The most established training programme within the UK is the Somerset Family Liaison Service. The training that has been used within this service to deliver Family Liaison Meetings (FLM) will be drawn on to implement FLM within Rehabilitation and Recovery (R&R) mental health services in Wales.This study aims to evaluate the introduction of FLM to two inpatient R&R mental health services in Wales.
The study will:
1) Explore health professionals' views and experiences of implementation and facilitation of FLM.
2) Explore patients’ and family members’ views and experiences of participating in FLM.Additionally it will seek to:
3) Explore the barriers and facilitators to the development, implementation and facilitation of FLM.
4) Explore what is helpful and unhelpful to those involved in FLM.
5) Identify who may benefit most from participation in FLM.
6) Identify which health professional roles are best suited to delivering FLM.The study will adopt a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews with patients, family members and health professionals. Additionally a log of patient demographics, FLM information and if appropriate, reasons for patients and family members declining FLM will be kept. Interviews will be transcribed and together with family liaison log sheets will be analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings and recommendations will be fed back to the Health Services involved.Summary of Results
This study evaluated family liaison meetings in an adult mental health rehabilitation and recovery unit. It aimed to describe the experiences and views of staff involved in the implementation of family liaison within the service. A convenience sample (11 female staff and one male) took part in this qualitative study. Interviews were semi-structured and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was carried out by the first author and reviewed and discussed with the second author. Three overarching themes were developed; repositioning of families within mental health services, enhancing understanding, changes to professional practice. Results indicated that staff perceived family liaison meetings to be valuable in addressing the challenges of working with families and carers. Additional training and investment is required by services to sustain family liaison meetings as a practice model.
The second part of the study, Semi-structured interviews were conducted by a student with carers who had recently attended a Family Liaison Meeting (FLM) in a mental health rehabilitation unit. Thematic analysis was used to identify and develop themes within the data.
Analysis identified two main themes: Involvement; participant’s experience of being part of their relative’s care and Positioning; participant’s construction of the relationship with their relative. The data was presented to the clinical team, resulting in changes in how the service sought to developed family-orientated practices.REC name
Wales REC 6
REC reference
14/WA/1228
Date of REC Opinion
20 Nov 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion