An Online Survey of Family Members' Beliefs and Attitudes About Smoking and Mental Illness.

OBJECTIVE: Family beliefs about smoking and cessation may influence whether individuals with mental illness who smoke use effective cessation treatment. We surveyed family members online regarding beliefs about smoking and cessation among people with mental illness. Method: Two hundred fifty-six family members of individuals with mental illness completed an online survey. Responses were summarized and t tests were used to compare responses based on the family member's smoking status. RESULTS: One-quarter of respondents agreed that people with mental illness must smoke to manage mental health symptoms, nearly half (48%) expressed uncertainty about the whether nicotine replacement therapy is harmful for this population, and 69% believed that family members do not have the skills to help an individual with mental illness quit smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Misconceptions about smoking and mental illness and uncertainty about the safety of cessation treatment may interfere with family support for quitting smoking among people with mental illness.

Generalizability of the NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program: Evidence From an Efficacy Study.

Previous studies conducted in Maryland of the Family-to-Family (FTF) education program of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) found that FTF reduced subjective burden and distress and improved empowerment, mental health knowledge, self-care, and family functioning, establishing it as an evidence-based practice. In the study reported here, the FTF program of NAMI-NYC Metro was evaluated. Participants (N=83) completed assessments at baseline and at completion of FTF. Participants had improved family empowerment, family functioning, engagement in self-care activities, self-perception of mental health knowledge, and emotional acceptance as a form of coping. Scores for emotional support and positive reframing also improved significantly. Displeasure in caring for the family member, a measure of subjective burden, significantly declined. Despite the lack of a control group and the limited sample size, this study further supports the efficacy of FTF with a diverse urban population.