Differences Between Irish and Australian Psychiatric Nurses' Family-Focused Practice in Adult Mental Health Services

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Family-focused practice improves outcomes for families where parents have a mental illness. However, there is limited understanding regarding the factors that predict and enable these practices. This study aimed to identify factors that predict and enable mental health nurses' family-focused practice. A sequential mixed methods design was used. A total of 343 mental health nurses, practicing in 12 mental health services (in acute inpatient and community settings), throughout Ireland completed the Family Focused Mental Health Practice Questionnaire, measuring family-focused behaviours and other factors that impact family-focused activities. Hierarchical multiple regression identified 14 predictors of family-focused practice. The most important predictors noted were nurses' skill and knowledge, own parenting experience, and work setting (i.e. community). Fourteen nurses, who achieved high scores on the questionnaire, subsequently participated in semistructured interviews to elaborate on enablers of family-focused practice. Participants described drawing on their parenting experiences to normalize parenting challenges, encouraging service users to disclose parenting concerns, and promoting trust. The opportunity to visit a service user's home allowed them to observe how the parent was coping and forge a close relationship with them. Nurses' personal characteristics and work setting are key factors in determining family-focused practice. This study extends current research by clearly highlighting predictors of family-focused practice and reporting how various enablers promoted family-focused practice. The capacity of nurses to support families has training, organizational and policy implications within adult mental health services in Ireland and elsewhere.

“…By contrast, in the Republic of Ireland, there has been relatively less FFP organizational and policy development (Grant & Reupert ; Grant et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Predictors and enablers of mental health nurses’ family‐focused practice

Reupert

Maybery

Goodyear

2018

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“…Inadequate time, lack of structure and resources are further barriers to working in a family‐focused way (Grant et al . ), as are staff shortages, high workloads, and high staff turnover; particularly in acute inpatient settings (Grant et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Barriers also stem from clinicians’ attitudes, knowledge, and skill set on child and family support needs (Foster & Isobel ; Grant et al . ), and from parents, children, and adult family members who may be reluctant or not available to discuss family issues (Grant & Reupert ; Maybery et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Family‐focused practice with EASE: A practice framework for strengthening recovery when mental health consumers are parents

Foster

Goodyear

Weimand

et al. 2018

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This paper provides a framework for essential family-focused practices (EASE: Engage, Assess, Support, Educate) for clinicians to support parents with mental illness in the context of their family. The framework is underpinned by relational recovery as the parent/consumer's recovery is considered within the context of their relationships, including the relationship between clinician and parent/consumer. The central aim is to strengthen nurses' and other clinicians' capacity to address key psychosocial needs of parents and to strengthen relational recovery in families where parents have mental illness. The EASE framework is a theory and evidence-informed family practice approach to relational recovery within healthcare provision. The EASE practice components are defined and illustrated with practice exemplars that operationalize the framework within adult service settings. Potential applications and outcomes of using EASE are also described. The framework is intended as a practical guide for working with parents and families in inpatient and community mental health settings and may also be relevant for clinicians in a range of contexts including child welfare and primary health care.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is consensus within the literature that children of parents with a mental illness are at risk of developing their own mental health concerns, and reduced social engagement and functioning (Afzelius et al 2017;Grant et al 2016;Reupert et al 2015;Vigano et al 2017). Children's quality of daily lives in terms of emotional health, social and economic well-being, self-esteem, and self-actualization are also thought to be negatively affected (Bee et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult children of parents with mental illness: Dehumanization of a parent – ‘She wasn't the wreck in those years that she was to become later’

Murphy

Peters

Wilkes

et al. 2017

Children who have lived with parental mental illness experience long-standing reduced health and social outcomes, alongside ongoing personal distress. While there has been some dialogue regarding interventions to support children who are living with parental mental illness, there remains a paucity of knowledge regarding adult children's experiences and potential needs. Given this, the aim of the present study was to establish parenting narratives of adult children who had experienced childhood parental mental illness. This included their experiences of being parented alongside their own subsequent parenting roles. Three men and 10 women, ranging from 30 to 78 years old, met individually with a researcher to tell their stories. Narratives were thematically analysed to establish themes. The findings of the study demonstrated that individuals who have lived with childhood parental mental illness dehumanized their parent with mental illness. The authors argue that all mental health services should be underpinned with a whole of family assessment and care philosophy. There is also a need for all mental health services to consider how policies and procedures might inadvertently dehumanize clients who are parents, which could contribute to familial dehumanization. This could prevent the dehumanization of parents who experience mental illness to preserve parental and child relationships.