A STUDY OF SOCIAL CAPITAL THAT SUPPORTS FAMILIES IN CARING FOR SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS TO LIVE IN THE COMMUNITY: A CASE STUDY OF A COMMUNITY IN BANGKOK

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to study on the social capital and guidelines for the development of social capital that supports families to take care of schizophrenic patients to live in the society. The methodology used is qualitative one. Data are collected from the in-depth interviews with care-givers to schizophrenic patients in a community, from 5 families, consisting of 5 main care-givers and 5 secondary care-givers, or 10 care-givers in total. The findings show that the social capitals in all the 3 categories, namely, social capital in household, social capital in community and social capital outside the community, play roles in supporting schizophrenic patients in 4 respects, namely, emotion and mind, acceptance and awareness of self-values, social resources, and information. Care-givers have suggested 3 important ways to develop the social capitals in all the three categories as follows: 1) members of a family should communicate and listen to problems with one another more; 2) the ‘Phueon Chuai Phueon (Friends Helping Friends)’ Club should have more activities for patients and families; and 3) medical facilities and hospitals should provide more knowledge of schizophrenia to the community.