Introduction Although research has shown that evidence-based family interventions in research settings improve the communication and understanding of parental mental illness, there is a lack of knowledge about interventions in an everyday clinical context. Aim This study explores how families with parental mental illness experience family interventions in a natural clinical context in psychiatric services. Method Five families with children aged 10-12 were recruited from psychiatric services in southern Sweden and interviewed in a manner inspired by naturalistic inquiry and content analysis. Both family and individual interviews were performed. Results In striving to lead an ordinary life while coping with the parental mental illness, these families sought the support of the psychiatric services, especially in order to inform their children about the mental illness. Despite different family interventions, the family members felt supported and reported that the number of conflicts in the family had decreased. The parents were appreciative of help with child-rearing questions, and the children experienced a calmer family atmosphere. However, the partner of the person with mental illness experienced being left without support. Implications for practice Our study shows that psychiatric services, and especially mental health nurses, are in a position to more regularly offer family interventions in supporting the children and the healthy partners.
Psychiatric services play a significant role in identifying the need for and initiating child-focused interventions in families with a parental mental illness, and need to develop and support strategies to enhance interagency collaboration with other welfare services.
Children of parents with a mental illness have an increased risk of developing mental health problems 1 and of experiencing other adverse life outcomes. 2 Several preventive interventions have therefore been developed for this group of children to promote healthy child development and reduce the risks associated with growing up with a parent with mental illness. 2 The overall effects of such interventions
Background: Psychiatric services have established children's representatives in an effort to support children of mentally ill patients. Material: Twenty two specially designated children's representatives and 19 other staff members were asked how they conceived the role of children's representatives and if those representatives had the responsibility of identifying children of mentally ill patients. Discussion: Children's representatives expressed difficulty in functioning as advocates for children whose parents were being treated for mental illness. Members of the psychiatric staff, although aware their patients had children, seldom met them since they focused on the adults. Conclusions: More than one third of all patients seeking psychiatric care have children, yet children's representatives and other staff members seldom meet them.
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