The complex impact of family caregiver kinship type on the rehabilitation of patients with mental disorders in rural communities of China

Background: In 2009, the Chinese government incorporated severe mental disorders into the central subsidized local health funding project for the effective management, treatment, and reintegration of patients with severe mental disorders from hospitals into the community (Project 686). The conditions that were classified as ‘severe’ by this project included: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorders, paranoid disorders, bipolar disorders, mental disorders caused by epilepsy, and mental retardation accompanying mental disorders. Patients in rural communities received better care after project implementation, of which 62.91% were farmers. Objective: This paper attempts to investigate the complex impact of Project 686 on the levels of rehabilitation of patients by their families. Methods: The last follow-up visit of the community psychiatrists in city H in 2020 was used as the time point. Finally, 174 samples were used in the analysis model. The type of kinship between family caregivers and patients with mental disorders was operationalized according to the information provided under the ‘primary caregiver’ item within the basic information section of the follow-up form. The software Stata15 was used to perform descriptive statistics, baseline regression model analysis, and a robustness test on the types of kinship identified and patients’ recovery. Results: The types of kinship, current symptoms, and medication use all affected patients’ recovery, were found to have regression coefficients of −0.148, −1.756, and 0.902, respectively. Parents of patients with mental disorders remain in the caregiver category with the largest proportion. Community acceptance of patients is high; current symptoms, medication use, and types of caregiver-patient relationships influence patients’ recovery levels. Conclusions and discussion: Project 686 has solved some of the rehabilitation and living difficulties of patients with mental disorders in rural communities. The types of kinship between family caregivers and patients with mental disorders in rural communities affect patients’ rehabilitation levels. Patients’ current symptoms and medication use can effectively moderate the impact of kinship type on patients’ recovery in terms of complete self-knowledge, productive work, and life and good social relationships. It is necessary for mental illness prevention-treatment organizations to establish supplemental, replacement, and substitution mechanisms for the life and rehabilitation of patients with mental disorders in rural communities. Furthermore, the sense of reward and concern for family caregivers should be actively enhanced, and greater scientific use of the rehabilitation function of the ‘family care + village doctor management’ model should be made.