Abstract
The purposes of this study are to develop an index to assess professional support for family groups with the mentally ill, and to compare support until initiated time with support at the present. We grasped the details of support by interview to professionals who supported family groups actually. Questionnaire items based on interview contents were devised. We conducted a nationwide survey using the items. Subjects of this study are one professional who supported the family group until initiated time and one professional who support the group at the present each eligible group. Eligible groups were 150 community-based groups all over the country that were initiated after 1990 with professional support. We selected 23 items having the same factor structure to compare support until initiated time with support at the present. The assessment index consisted of 6 factors and 23 items was developed. These factors were considered kinds of support. The kinds of support were as follows support for mutual aid, support for social action, support for running by members, co-running and co-leading, coordinate of the group and community agencies, personal support. We examined validity and reliability of the index. Support until initiated time was compared to support at the present using the index. The result indicated that support until initiated time was carried out more intensive, especially 'support for mutual aid' and 'co-running and co-leading'.
