Objective: The aim of this study ‎was to determine the prevalence ‎of the burden reported by family ‎caregivers of Patients with ‎schizophrenia.‎

Introduction: Emergency medical services (EMS) providers are at continuous exposure to occupational stressors which negatively affect their health and professional practice. This study explored perceived occupational stressors among EMS providers. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted from December 2019 to April 2020 using conventional content analysis. Sixteen EMS providers were purposively selected from EMS stations in Hamadan, Iran. Semi-structured interviews (with length of 45–60 min) were held for data collection. Data were analyzed through Graneheim and Lundman’s conventional content analysis approach. Findings: Data analysis resulted in the development of two themes, namely critical conditions of EMS provision, and personal and professional conflicts. The six categories of these two themes were complexity of patients’ clinical conditions, interruption of EMS provision, health hazards, interpersonal problems, interprofessional interactions, and legal conflicts. Conclusion: Besides the stress associated with emergency patient care, EMS providers face many different occupational stressors. EMS managers can use the findings of the present study to develop strategies for reducing occupational stress among EMS providers and thereby, improve their health and care quality.

Background: Family caregiving for patients with chronic mental illness is influenced by various factors such as political, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts as well as related policies and health services. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges with which the family caregivers of patients with chronic mental illness have to contend. Materials and Methods: The research design was qualitative with a phenomenological approach. The research population consisted of 16 long-term carers expressing interest in participating in the project. The carers were the family members of mentally ill relatives who collected their monthly medications at Farshchian Psychiatry Hospital in Hamadan in 2012. Purposive sampling was used to draw the sample. Data were collected by individual in-depth semi-structured interviews, which were tape-recorded and analyzed via Colaizzi’s phenomenological method. Rigor was assessed regarding credibility, dependability, conformability, and transferability. Results: Our findings highlighted 4 main themes, namely stress and emotional distress, need for education and information, socioeconomic effects and support, and physical strain. Conclusions: Families experience frustrations when providing support and care to their mentally ill relatives. They, therefore, need appropriate support and intervention by mental health services. Keywords: Caregivers; Family; Mental Disorders

Purpose: Suicide is a complex phenomenon that needs to be studied with a variety of approaches. The purpose of this study is to explore the lived experience of attempted suicide with the phenomenology approach. Method: An interpretive phenomenological approach was used to analyse semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 16 participants (ages 19–57) who were recruited by means of purposive sampling from October to November 2017 at the Farshchian Psychiatric Hospital in Hamadan/Iran. Data analysis was conducted according to van Manen’s phenomenological method. Results: Identified three themes and eight subthemes: Mental pain (subthemes: living through grief, internal conflict, the world is better without me), Social challenges (lack of social connection, financial problems, social support services) and Need for love and belonging (feeling understood, need of empathy). Conclusions: Outcomes and key implications of the study related primarily to improving the treatment experiences of suicide attempt survivors and other at-risk population, and also advancing suicide prevention efforts and to provide support for suicide attempt survivors.

Purpose: Despite its efficacy and safety, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is underutilized, in part, due to the stigma associated with the treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of counseling on stigma in patients with psychiatric disorders receiving ECT. Patients and methods: A total of 114 patients with psychiatric disorders undergoing ECT were randomly divided into two groups. Both the groups received routine care and treatment, but the intervention group (n=57) received four counseling sessions. At the beginning and end of the study (6 weeks, post-treatment), patients completed the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness scale. The data were analyzed using independent and paired sample t-tests. Results: There was no significant difference in the mean stigma scores of participants in the control and intervention groups before counseling (P>0.08). However, post-intervention, there was a significant difference in the mean stigma scores between both the groups (P<0.001). Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that the counseling intervention is effective in decreasing stigma in patients undergoing ECT. Therefore, it is recommended to use this therapeutic method in such patients.