Le rôle des familles au sein du système de santé mentale au Québec

Jean-Pierre Bonin
Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal et Faculté des sciences infirmières, Université de Montréal.
Gabrielle Chicoine
Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal et Faculté des sciences infirmières, Université de Montréal.
Hélène Fradet
Fédération des familles et amis de la personne atteinte de maladie mentale (FFAPAMM).
Caroline Larue
Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal et Faculté des sciences infirmières, Université de Montréal.
Hélène Racine
Institut en santé mentale Douglas.
Marie-Claude Jacques
Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke.
Denise St-Cyr Tribble
Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke.

Résumé

Cet article vise à résumer l’état des lieux quant au rôle des familles de personnes atteintes de troubles mentaux au sein du système de santé mentale au Québec. À cet effet, un rappel historique permet de mettre en perspective les différents rôles occupés par les familles, d’agent causal, tant au point de vue de la générique que des émotions exprimées, à prestataire de soins qui peut vivre du fardeau et finalement partenaire. Un modèle élaboré par la FFAPAMM et qui iden­tifie trois rôles principaux permet de contextualiser le rôle actuel dans le système. Ce modèle, intitulé CAP, regroupe et décrit trois rôles des familles qui, s’ils sont tributaires du passé, continuent de se côtoyer à notre époque : celui de client, d’accompagnateur et finalement de partenaire. Des recommandations provenant d’un projet de recherche québécois et d’un rapport de la Commission de santé mentale du Canada permettront d’envisager un avenir où les besoins et les aspira­tions des familles seront pris en compte.

Mots clés familles, rôles, système de santé mentale, historique, associations, partenariat

The role of families in the Quebec mental health system

Abstract

Purpose. This paper aims to summarize the current situation regarding the role of families of persons with mental disorders within the mental health system in Quebec.

Methods. We made a research in the most recent and pertinent papers or books regarding: 1) the history of the family involvement in the mental health system in Quebec; 2) the present situation of these families and the models that we can see and 3) identify in recent governmental or research documents recommendations regarding a greater empowerment of the families in the mental health system.

Results. The research provides a historical perspective to the roles occupied by families. First the family was described as a causal agent; the work of the psycho­analyst Freud described the family unit as a source of conflicts in the areas of affect and sexual dynamics, and which results in the appearance of psychiatric symptoms. Later, this view of a causal agent came both from the point of view of genetic and from expressed emotions. In the 70’s new perspectives such as general systems theory (von Bertalanffy, 1968), described the family as responsive to mental dis­order of one of its members rather than a responsible agent. With the deinstitu­tionalization movement, the family was perceived as a source of solutions for persons with mental illness, but also as persons who can live some burden. This subject became well described and a several studies reported about adverse effects of caring for a person with mental disorder on the health, well-being and feeling of caregiver burden. In the 90’s, some government action plans called for the relationship between the family and the health system as a partnership. Also, families want to be involved in decisions about care and to be informed about the diagnosis and treatment options. ( Lefley et Wasow, 1993)A new model developed by FFAPAMM that identifies three main roles enables to contextualize the current role in the current system. This model, called CAP lists and describes three roles of families that, if they are dependent on the past, con­tinue to mingle in our time. These roles are:

Accompanist: the role imposed by being near a person with mental illness (Fradet, 2012). As an accompanist, the family needs to establish relationships with health professionals. Accompanists want to be considered by stakeholders and be respected in their desire to share information and participate in deci­sions.

Client: this is the role that derives from the accompanist when the caregiver receives care services for its psychological or physical problems related to the fact support a sick person.

Partner: it is relative to the involvement (or not) the role of family members in the organization of care. It is a role of participation and decision-making. In this context, we also speak of participation in the consultation mechanisms.

Recommendations from a Quebec research project and a report of the Commission on Mental Health of Canada will consider a future where the needs and aspirations of families will be taken into account in mental health general services, short term health care, community mental health services. There are also some guidelines regarding education for professionals about the needs of families and about changing politics.

Conclusion. There exists in all associations of families of person with mental dis­orders, training on topics such as how to behave towards different mental disorders or aggressiveness near reached. A project of the Douglas Institute has hired a family member to the emergency room to help families better manage this often difficult time and to facilitate communication with stakeholders. Another project called “Learning to come closer without aggression” has helped more than 200 family members undergo training inspired by the Omega approach, which helps them better manage their own behavior in situations of aggression with their loved one.

Keywords families, roles, mental healthcare system, history, associations, partnership

Auteurs : Jean-Pierre Bonin; Gabrielle Chicoine; Hélène Fradet; Caroline Larue; Hélène Racine; Marie-Claude Jacques; Denise St-Cyr Tribble
Titre : Le rôle des familles au sein du système de santé mentale au Québec
Revue : Santé mentale au Québec, Volume 39, numéro 1, printemps 2014, p. 159-173

URI : http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1025912ar
DOI : 10.7202/1025912ar

Tous droits réservés © Département de psychiatrie de l’Université de Montréal, 2014