EXPERIENCES OF SOCIAL WORKERS WORKING WITH FAMILY MEMBERS OF PERSONS WITH HOARDING DISORDER OR BEHAVIOUR

Abstract

Hoarding is a common yet under-recognised psychiatric disorder. Research on hoarding only began in the 1990s and understanding on it remains limited, especially in Asian contexts. The deinstitutionalisation of persons with mental illness implies the increased importance of family members in supporting such persons in the community. Thus, the aim of this research was to gain a better understanding of the experiences of family members of persons with hoarding disorder or behaviour.

Eight social workers who worked with persons with hoarding behaviour and their families were recruited to give an account of the experiences of family members and their own experiences handling hoarding cases. One-on-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant. Thematic coding was then used to analyse data from the interviews.

This research found that family members tend to face several sources of stress and experience frustration frequently, which can lead to a strained relationship with the person with hoarding behaviour. However, there are protective factors such as empathy that allow family members to overcome the stress. The research also found that while family members may feel helpless or resigned to their situation, they are able to develop coping methods to get by. Lastly, this research found that social workers face great challenges in addressing hoarding behaviours due to the lack of knowledge of effective interventions for hoarding globally.

Implications for research include furthering research on treatments for hoarding and family-based interventions. Implications for social work policy and practice include detecting hoarding at an early stage and educating communities and service providers on hoarding as a mental illness.