Family role in Occupational Functioning:Experiences of Individuals with Severe Mental Illness

**Aim:**To explore the experiences of the individuals with SMI about their family’s role in their occupational functioning.

**Justification for Study:**Occupational functioning is known to be affected in individuals with SMI. Being productive is important among individuals with SMI, which is affected by multiple factors such as peers, workplace including families.Indian families are collectivistic in nature, supports one another in times of crisis and enhances their family members wellbeing. Although families are often supportive, how they are perceived by the individuals with SMI is not clear. Lack of insight about the experiences of individuals with SMI can lead to mismatch between the interventions provided by occupational therapists and the actual desires of the individual. Therefore, it is important to explore the experiences of individuals with SMI to provide client specific interventions and enhance their overall functioning.

**Detailed description of the procedure:**The proposal will be presented to the Institutional Research Committee (IRC). The interview guide consisting of main questions, prompts and probes based on the conceptual framework will be prepared by the researcher. The interview guide will include a variety of open-ended questions designed to prompt the participants to discuss their experiences in detail. The interview guide will be validated by subject experts. Permission will be obtained from the Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Kasturba Hospital Medical Superintendent before IEC. After the approval, the necessary documents will be submitted to IEC for further permission and the CTRI will be registered. The researcher will undergo basic training in qualitative research (online course and practice interviews) and data collection methods. The participants will be recruited from the Department of Psychiatry of KMC Hospital. The study’s purpose will be discussed with the participants, and informed consent will be obtained from participants and caregivers along with the interview guide and consent form. Individual in-depth interviews will be conducted in the occupational therapy department in KMC hospital by the researcher, based on the interview guide, and the data will be audio recorded and the field notes will be taken. During the interview the participants will be given enough time to think and share their experiences. The interview is expected to be around 45-60 mins, with extra time allowed if needed. The participants will be provided with break time, if necessary. With the participant’s permission, audio recordings will be made of the interview. The study will be conducted until the theoretical data saturation occurs, that is the participants will be recruited, until no new information is obtained from the interviews. The interviews will be transcribed verbatim in English / Kannada. The Kannada interviews will be translated into English. The transcribed interviews will be thematically analyzed. Finally, the dissertation and manuscript writing, and submissions will be completed.

Data analysis: The data obtained from interviews will be transcribed verbatim in Kannada / English and translated to English. The obtained data will be analyzed by using thematic analysis approach for identifying, analyzing and interpreting pattern of meanings (themes). Initially the transcripts will be read and re-read again to understand it and initial codes will be generated from the obtained data. Potential themes will be searched with the codes identified and will be reviewed and refined. Then themes will be defined and labelled from the developed thematic map. The results will be reported with the obtained themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006).