Families with parental mental illness: Studying a home‐based intervention program

Abstract

This study is the first to systematically examine the implementation of the BROSH program, a therapeutic intervention program developed in Israel for families in which one or both parents suffer from mental illness. The program is multidisciplinary, encompassing the collaboration of four different services. It aims to engage the families into therapy by building a strong working alliance and helping in emotional stress regulation. Further, the program aims to prevent parental hospitalization and children's out-of-home placement. We conducted an in-depth investigation of the functioning of parents and children participating in the program. We analysed protocols that followed 11 families throughout the multidisciplinary professionals' meetings. Our findings indicate that the functioning of parents and children showed positive changes-improved stress regulation by parents and children and more familial engagement in the treatment program. It seems that both parents and children participating in the BROSH program benefitted from it by establishing coping abilities and being able to receive therapeutic help.

A Scoping Review of Interventions Designed to Support Parents With Mental Illness That Would Be Appropriate for Parents With Psychosis

“…Preventative Basic Care Management (PBCM) ( 84 ) in the Netherlands also assigns families a case manager and coordinates the services involved in the families' care. The BROSH program ( 53 ) lasts 2 years and is a collaboration from child welfare, child mental health and adult mental health services is Israel. It consists of weekly home meetings either with the parent or the whole family where parents learn about child development, mentalizing skills, and can get help with financial issues.…”

“…When addressing parenting skills, a psychotic diagnosis does predict deficits in social cognitive abilities ( 45 ), which affects parents' ability to understand their child's mental states ( 114 ). Therefore, parents with psychosis would likely benefit from interventions with a mentalizing component, which was the case in four interventions included in this review ( 38 , 53 , 70 , 88 ).…”

Support needs and experiences of young people living in families with mental illness

“…Another approach revolves around minimizing family dysfunction and maximizing young people's support networks and competencies, such as the US “Keeping Families Strong” program for mothers with depression and their 9−16‐year‐old child (Valdez et al, 2011). Similarly, researchers have developed and evaluated home‐based interventions, such as the BROSH program in Israel, a holistic, multidisciplinary therapeutic intervention program aimed to prevent parent hospitalization and children's out‐of‐home placement (Oppenheim‐Weller et al, 2021). These approaches have been effective in increasing children's perceptions of support, among other important psychological and interpersonal benefits.…”

Community-based multi-professional child protection decision making: Systematic narrative review

“…Collaborative working is generally regarded as beneficial despite the challenges (Bracewell, 2018;Oppenheim-Welleret et al, 2021;Phillips & Walsh, 2019). There is some evidence that some types of multi-professional collaboration improve the engagement of families with complex conditions; achieve better outcomes for children and parents; reduce the use of more invasive and expensive interventions, such as hospitalization, children's outof-home placement; youth detention; and reduce work-related hazards for staff, such as burnout and secondary trauma (Bracewell, 2018;Byrne & Taylor, 2007;Drabble, 2010;Haight et al, 2014;Oppenheim-Weller et al, 2021;Wells et al, 2011). However, there is limited understanding of the organisational and inter-personal characteristics that underpin more effective approaches to multi-professional decision making.…”