Advancing Family-Centred Care in Child and Adolescent Mental Health: A Critical Review of the Literature

Abstract

Family-centred care (FCC) is a key factor in increasing health and related system responsiveness to the needs of children and families; unfortunately, it is an unfamiliar service model in children's mental health. This critical review of the literature addresses three key questions: What are the concepts, characteristics and principles of FCC in the context of delivering mental health services to children? What are the enablers, barriers and demonstrated benefits to using a family-centred approach to care in children's mental health? And how can we facilitate moving an FCC model forward in children's mental health? A range of databases was searched for the years 2000-2011, for children ages zero to 18 years. Articles were selected for inclusion if a family-centred approach to care was articulated and the context was the intervention and treatment side of the mental healthcare system. This literature review uncovered a multiplicity of terms and concepts, all closely related to FCC. Two of the most frequently used terms in children's mental health are family centred and family focused, which have important differences, particularly in regard to how the family is viewed. Initial benefits to FCC include improved child and family management skills and function, an increased stability of living situation, improved cost-effectiveness, increased consumer and family satisfaction and improved child and family health and well-being. Significant challenges exist in evaluating FCC because of varying interpretations of its core concepts and applications. Nonetheless, a shared understanding of FCC in a children's mental health context seems possible, and examples can be found of best practices, enablers and strategies, including opportunities for innovative policy change to overcome barriers.

Living with schizophrenia: Health‐related quality of life among primary family caregivers

“…Putting FCC into healthcare practice, particularly in the mental health literature, has demonstrated improved health outcomes of families as well as greater family satisfaction with healthcare services and improved cost‐effectiveness of care (MacKean et al., ; Shor & Shalev, ). Mutually supportive interactions among primary family caregivers, affected individuals and healthcare providers are key points to meet the needs of the affected families.…”

Contributions for the Portuguese Adaptation of the Parentcaregiver Relationship Scale

“…O fator em que as mães mostraram maior satisfação, "Confiança/Cuidado" tem um papel crucial na perceção parental relativamente à qualidade da interação com o enfermeiro e está relacionada com o grau de satisfação do cliente (Ammentorp, et al, 2005), o bem-estar da criança-família (King, et al, 2004;Klassen, et al, 2010), a aceitação e adesão tratamento (Bell, et al, 2009;Hupcey, et al, 2001;MacKean, et al, 2012) e o envolvimento parental na tomada de decisão em relação ao tratamento da criança (Holm, et al, 2003). Por sua vez os resultados muito positivos no fator "Colaboração/parceria" refletem satisfação e envolvimento parental na tomada de decisão em relação ao tratamento da criança (King, et al, 2004;Ordem dos Enfermeiros, 2010).…”

“…Relativamente aos elementos principais da interação entre profissionais de saúde e a família, os resultados de estudos sobre as necessidades parentais (MacKean, et al, 2012), e sobre a satisfação parental (Ammentorp, Mainz, & Sabroe, 2005), têm indicado que os pais valorizam principalmente: (i) a confiança; (ii) as atitudes de disponibilidade, empatia e respeito; (iii) a colaboração/parceria.…”

“…www.sp-ps.pt A confiança tem sido identificada como estando associada a níveis mais elevados de satisfação parental (Ammentorp, et al, 2005). A confiança nos profissionais de saúde tem ainda sido associada a níveis mais elevados de bem-estar da criança e da família (King, Teplicky, King & Rosenbaum, 2004;Klassen, et al, 2010), de aceitação e adesão ao tratamento (Bell, & Duffy, 2009;MacKean, et al, 2012;Hupcey, Penrod, Morse, & Mitcham, 2001;) e de envolvimento parental na tomada de decisão em relação ao tratamento da criança (Holm, Patterson, & Gurney, 2003).…”

“…Na verdade, os pais valorizam não só as competências dos profissionais para os informar e apoiar mas também para, considerando a sua vontade, os envolver na discussão, na elaboração e na implementação do plano de cuidados da criança (MacKean, et al, 2012).…”