Mental health service users' experiences and perspectives of family involvement in their care: a systematic literature review

Background: The importance of engaging families in mental health care is recognised and endorsed by governments worldwide, however service users' perspectives of family involvement are not well understood. Aims: This study sought to summarise the literature regarding how service users view the involvement of family in their engagement with services and care. Methods: A search was conducted within the following databases for manuscripts published in the last 10 years: PsycINFO, CINAHLPlus, PubMed and Scopus. Of the 4251 eligible papers 17 met the inclusion criteria for review and were subjected to quality appraisal using the RATS (relevance, appropriateness, transparency, soundness) qualitative research review guidelines. Results: Thematic analysis identified four primary themes: family involvement can be positive and negative; barriers to family involvement; family involvement is variable; and communication and collaboration among stakeholders. Conclusions: Identifying the barriers to family involvement and heterogeneity among service users' views were key findings of this review. Despite the widely reported benefits of including families in mental health care it does not always occur. A clearer and more nuanced understanding of service users' needs and preferences for family involvement is required.