Are you a caregiver for an adult with mental illness?
When your loved one is diagnosed with a mental illness, finding appropriate medical and psychiatric care becomes your first priority. But as a caregiver, often times YOU need help finding balance in your life. Caring for someone with a mental illness can be both physically and emotionally stressful. We can provide you with the knowledge, skills and support necessary to improve your family’s overall well-being.
The goal of Intensive Family Support Services (IFSS) is to improve the quality of life of people caring for an adult with a serious mental illness. The program strives to improve caregivers’ overall functioning by offering individualized information, education and therapeutic support.
Through IFSS, families learn to be supportive in ways that promote wellness, recovery and independence. Ultimately, the program helps all family members begin to find peace of mind. Services help caregivers:
- Navigate the community mental health system
- Develop successful support systems
- Better manage crisis situations
- Communicate more effectively
- Utilize coping strategies
- Recognize the signs and symptoms of serious mental illness
- Learn about mental health treatment options
- Become a more effective advocate
Find Balance, Wellness and Recovery
Caregivers choose from a variety of services that are most relevant to their needs. Services are flexible and accessible to families in terms of when, where and how services are provided.
Individualized Family Consultation – Family Support Specialists provide regular face-to-face and telephone support to help caregivers find ways to build balance in their lives.
Family Psycho-education Groups – Staff and guest lecturers conduct and facilitate groups on topics that families identify as areas in which they need further knowledge and skills. Past topics include financial management, coping strategies, health diagnoses and more. Family members, friends and mental health providers are encouraged to attend.
Support Groups – Support groups provide an opportunity for families to meet with other families and support each other with the help of a trained facilitator. We conduct a variety of groups based on the current needs of our families including families with schizophrenic loved ones, parents with mentally ill adult children, etc.
Reoccuring support groups include:
- Families Coping With A Loved One With Schizophrenia – Meets the 1st Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm
- Families Coping With A Loved One With a Mood Disorder – Meets the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm
- Families Coping with A Loved One with a Personality Disorder – Meets the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 3:00 pm
Attendees must be enrolled in IFSS to attend support groups. Groups meet at 1409 Kings Highway North, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034.
Respite and Social Activities Group – Respite gives caregivers planned time away to relieve stress, restore energy and promote balance in the caregiver’s home or a community setting. Social activities such as museum trips, miniature golf, the movies and other fun outings, provide a relaxed venue for caregivers and consumers of mental health services to interact with peers experiencing similar situations.
Advocacy – Family Support Specialists help caregivers become more effective advocates for themselves and the person they are caring for by explaining their rights as caregivers and the rights of individuals in mental health treatment.
Information and Referral – Family Support Specialists work with families to identify additional mental health and non-mental health services. They help form connections with new resources and assist with important paperwork.
Connect to IFSS Today
Eligibility: Intensive Family Support Services are available to Camden and Mercer County residents who care for an adult (18 or older) with a serious mental illness.
Location: Appointments take place in the family’s home, at Oaks Integrated Care, or at other convenient sites in the community.
Office Locations
1409 Kings Highway North
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
p: 856-482-8747
1001 Spruce Street, Suite 205
Trenton, NJ 08638
p: 609-396-6788
Fee: There is no fee for this service.
