ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate needs of caregivers of patients with schizophrenia for mental health knowledge and provide the scientific evidence for formulating the general intervention to improve the caregivers′mental health knowledge and skills . Methods Sixty-five caregivers of the patients with schizophrenia participated in the survey by a general state questionnaire and the requirement to mental health knowledge and skill questionnaire using the convenience sampling method. The survey included mental illness knowledge drug, knowledge rehabilitative therapy and self-adjustment. Results Among all the items of the questionnaire, the 3 items they needed most was mental illness knowledge, the preventing method and the symptoms of the recurrent diseases. The 3 items they needed most in respect of drug knowledge were what examinations are needed when taking special drugs, the adverse reactions of the antipsychotic drugs and the importance of persisting in taking drugs. The 3 they needed most in respect of rehabilitative therapy were the relationship between psychology and disease rehabilitation, the role of mental treatment and the role of work-entertainment therapy. The 3 items they needed most in respect of self-adjustment included sleep adjustment, self-adjustment of affects and self-management of daily life and instructions on dieting. Conclusions The caregivers′mental health knowledge and skills are not enough. Therefore, their mental health knowledge and skills should be strengthened so that they can take better care of the patients to realize comprehensive rehabilitation of patients.