Abstract
D.Cur. (Psychiatric Nursing)
Relatives diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are difficult to manage
effectively. Psychotherapeutic treatment of people with BPD is a great challenge
confronting mental health professionals today. The purpose of this research was to
develop a model for the facilitation of mental health for family members who have a
relative diagnosed with BPD. To achieve this aim, the following objectives were
formulated: to explore and describe the experiences of family members caring for a
relative diagnosed with BPD; to develop and describe a model that can serve as a
frame of reference for the advanced psychiatric nurse, to mobilise resources to
facilitate the mental health of families who have a relative diagnosed with BPD in a
family setting; and to describe guidelines that will enable the advanced psychiatric
nurse to implement the model for facilitating the mental health of family members who
have a relative diagnosed with BPD. The objectives formulated for this research were
obtained and a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, contextual and theory-generative
research design was used. The research method took place in four steps to generate
the model. These steps were followed simultaneously and were described as follows:
Step1: Concept analysis, which consisted of concept identification, concept definition
and classification; Step 2: Placing concepts in interrelationship statements; Step 3:
Description and evaluation of the model; and Step 4: Guidelines for model evaluation.
The results identified two themes. Theme 1 discussed the family member’s
experiences of having a relative diagnosed with BPD. Theme 2 discussed family
members’ experience of questing for harmony and integration. Family members
became motivated to ask for support and embarked on a programme of mindfulness
to assist them. A model was developed to demonstrate the facilitation of mindfulness
by the advanced psychiatric nurse to facilitate the mental health of family members. In
this model, the practice of mindfulness led family members with mental health
challenges from a state of being unmindful to a state of increased mindfulness. The
results revealed that through the practice of mindfulness, these individuals became
more competent at managing themselves and were more effective at dealing with the
challenges of living with their relative diagnosed with BPD. The model can serve as a...