The King’s College, London (KCL) has recently developed a free online course that is focused on some of the relevant issues faced by carers of people with psychosis and schizophrenia. The initiative was funded from the Ostaka Lundbeck Alliance but developed independently by KCL in collaboration with EUFAMI and runs through FutureLearn (which is part of the Open University).
The two weeks-course is open and free to anyone. It is designed to offer an in-depth understanding of some of the key issues and questions relevant to carers supporting people with psychotic disorders, including:
- How can we best understand psychosis and its key symptoms such as hearing voices?
- What are the links between cannabis use and developing psychosis?
- Can psychosis affect physical health?
- How do medications work and what effects can they have?
The course includes people with lived experience of caring and a number of academics and clinicians from psychology, psychiatry, pharmacy and nursing including:
- Professor Sir Robin Murray (Chair of The Schizophrenia Commission)
- Professor Elizabeth Kuipers (Chair of the NICE Guidelines for Psychosis and Schizophrenia)
- Professor Mike Slade (100 Ways to Support Recovery- A guide for mental health professionals)
- Professor David Taylor (Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines)
The course has been designed with carers in mind but it would also be relevant for any student or professional working in a health setting with psychosis and carers. No previous knowledge of psychosis or experience of caring is required to take the course and the material is applicable to carers irrespective of illness length.
The course is based on approximately 3-4 hours per week study, and starts Monday 6th June 2016, which is also the start of the UK National Carers Week. Course registration is open now.
You can register for the course and access further information by visiting the website.