Effects of Mental Illness on the Family: Experiential Family Assessment to Promote Students' Affective Learning

There is general consensus that family caregivers of individuals with chronic illness may experience profound stressors (^{Corrigan & Miller, 2004} ; ^{Horsfall, Cleary, & Hunt, 2010} ; ^{Schmetzer & Lafuze, 2008} ). Unlike families of individuals with medical illnesses, family caregivers of individuals with mental illness must cope with multiple expressions of stigma. Although it is widely recognized that individuals with mental illness experience discrimination, family members of individuals with mental illness also experience a heavy burden of stigma that can lead to emotional distress and trauma (^{Corrigan & Miller, 2004} ). Effective nursing care of the families of individuals with mental illness requires empathy and caring, behaviors in the affective domain of learning (^{Marshall, Bell, & Moules, 2010} ; ^{O'Connor, 2006} ).

Promoting learning in the affective domain is challenging, as it requires a learning situation where emotional responses are elicited and processed in a positive way (^{O'Connor, 2006} ). To address this challenge, mental health faculty from one college of nursing developed an experiential family assessment learning experience to promote affective learning for baccalaureate students in the area of nursing care for families of individuals with mental illness, particularly for family caregivers. The theoretical perspectives supporting the experience included the work of Fink (²⁰⁰³ ), an educational theorist, who emphasized that the human dimension is an important category of learning. From a nursing perspective, the learning experience is consistent with Hildegard Peplau's Interpersonal Theory in Nursing Practice. Peplau emphasized that it is through interpersonal interactions between the nurse and individual with mental illness and his or her family that therapeutic work can be done (^{O'Toole & Welt, 1989} ). Peplau also stated that when nurses have inaccurate or preconceived ideas about a mentally ill individual's situation, the therapeutic nature of this interaction is diminished (^{O'Toole & Welt, 1989} ). The learning experience involved partnering with the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Georgia (NAMI-GA), a grassroots advocacy organization focused on reducing stigma associated with mental illness and improving the lives of individuals with mental illness and their families. The goals of the experience were to:

Model family assessment interview techniques with students in a participant observer role.

Use an experiential approach to decrease stigma, change attitudes,...