Introduction: Severe mental illness can impact individuals’ occupational performance and participation. These individuals may require long-term care, that may often rely heavily on families especially when psychosocial rehabilitation and support services are limited. Hence, it is pivotal to better understand families’ experiences of these services and their role in supporting recovery for their loved ones with mental illness.
Objectives: This presentation explores families’ experiences of participating in a psychosocial rehabilitation centre located on a university campus in Tehran, Iran.
Methods: Using a participatory photovoice approach, we invited 7 families who identified as primary carers to take part in this study. Ethics approval was obtained from Iran University of Medical Sciences. Families participated in individual interviews and a photovoice group where we invited them to take photographs that represents their experiences of the psychosocial rehabilitation centre. Families brought their photograph to a focus group to discuss their views with other families and the research team. The interviews and focus group were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.
Results: Two themes identified through analysis families’ experiences: 1) university environment offering facilities and spaces for their wait time; and 2) meaningful activities enabling recovery, growth and participation for their loved ones with mental illness.
Conclusion: This presentation highlights the role of a university-based psychosocial rehabilitation centre in not only supporting recovery for individuals with mental illness, but also offering spaces and facilities for families to engage in meaningful activities, develop trusting relationships with staff and students, and build friendship with other families.