Relatives’ experiences of an equine-assisted intervention for people with psychotic disorders

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study was to describe relatives’ experiences of an equine-assisted intervention for people with psychotic disorders. Methods The study has a qualitative and descriptive design. Ten semi-structured interviews were performed with relatives of people with a psychotic disorder who had participated in an equine-assisted intervention. A conventional content analysis was used to analyse the data. Result The overall category “Being with the horses strengthens health capabilities” summarizes the four identified subcategories “The horses contribute to a context with a common focus”, “Interaction with the horses enhances self-confidence and motivation”, “The interplay with the horses nurtures positive emotions” and “Being with the horses encourages physical activity”. Conclusions The result of this study contributes to the growing body of research about the potential outcomes of equine-assisted interventions. The result also indicates that equine-assisted interventions may improve health capabilities among people with psychotic disorders. The generated knowledge may be useful in mental health services when developing equine-assisted interventions.

Keywords

• equine-assisted interventions
• experiences
• health capabilities
• mental health
• psychotic disorders
• qualitative content analysis
• relatives