Keeping Care Complete: Caregivers' Perspectives on Mental Illness & Wellness

Caregivers from Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in the survey, which was developed by the World Federation for Mental Health and Eli Lilly and Company. The combined findings across countries reflected in the percentages below represent answers across all countries and a total number of respondents (982), unless noted otherwise.

Independent market research companies Ipsos-Insight and All Global Ltd., conducted the survey of 982 caregivers of individuals with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or schizo-affective disorder or Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States between November 2005 and June 2006. Data was collected via 30-minute telephone interviews, which included a set of close-ended questions focusing on topics such as treatment discontinuation, relapse, caregiver burden, information exchange between families and treatment teams and long-term wellness. In addition, the survey included several country-specific questions.

Caregivers viewed medication management a top treatment priority:

• 91% of caregivers say that efficacy is their primary concern when considering treatment options for their family member.
   
• 90% of caregivers say that an effective medication is needed to control the symptoms of the family member's condition, before their overall well-being (physical and mental health) can be properly tackled

Finding the right medication can be difficult and lengthy, and many people try different medications for years before they find the one that works. Of the 756 caregivers who say that their relative is satisfied with their current medication:

• 56% say it took two years or more for their relative to find a medication that worked
   
• 85% say that their relative tried more than two different medications before finding the one that worked and 36% say their relative had to try more than five medications.
   
• In addition, 82% of all caregivers said that initial experiences with a treatment influence overall perceptions of the treatment