Southwark Mental Health Family Strategy

Think child, think parent, think family: a guide to parental

mental health and child welfare

Chris McCree

Introduction

Why ‘think family’?Introduction to the SCIE

guideImpact of Children and

Young PeopleOur experience

Why Think Family?

Proportion of adults with mental health problems

1 in 4

Proportion of those who are parents at the time

25% - 50%

Proportion of children of mentally unwell parents who develop their own mental health problems

1/3 – 2/3

Proportion of young carers supporting a parent with mental health problems

29%

Proportion of serious case reviews with parental mental ill-health as key factor

1/3

Why think family?

3. Parenting and the

parent – child relationship

4. Risks, stressors and vulnerability factors

4. Protective factors and resources

1. Child mental health

and development

2. Adult mental health

The Family Model (Falkov, 1998)

Resilience

Family resilience derives fromPersonality of membersInter-relationshipsEnvironment

InformationGood quality support

The barriers where you are

StructuralResourcesPersonal

KnowledgeSkillsConfidence

Barriers to thinking family Challenge of interagency working Confidence and willingness to

work outside professional boundaries

Statutory thresholds Knowledge of services Workload Information sharing

Regulations Practicalities

Fear and stigma

Family StrategyBased on robust evidenceIncludes messages from parents

and childrenKey recommendations set out for

OrganisationsManagersFront-line staff

Characteristics of a successful service

Lots of good practice examples

Key messages from the guidance

Develop services that: Take a ‘no wrong door’ approach Look at the whole family throughout the care

pathway Co-ordinate and tailor support effectively Build on family strengths

In addition: Improving access via communications strategy Workforce development Strategic approach – ‘Think Family Strategy’

A successful service

Listens to parents and childrenManages crises, and stays on afterwardsIs creative, knowledgeable and flexibleShares informationPromotes the whole family’s strengths and

resilience

Staff Training

Training and Development of Staff

Building Staff Confidence and skills in talking to parents about the needs of children

Implementation of the Adapted Family Partnership Model

Crossing Bridges Joint trainingStaffs ability to comment on parenting

capacity

User Focused Monitoring

Continuing User Involvement

Being a parent

Being a parent is real challenge for everyone and is one of the most important jobs we will do.

As the strategy recognizes all of us will need support from strategic services while bring up our children slide.

One of the greatest strengths of this Family Strategy is it promotes working with users in a non-judgmental and compassionated way.

Parental Mental Health in Children centres team

Provides Individual and group workHome assessment and interventionsFull mental and social needs assessmentAssessment of parent infant attachment

and relationshipWorks closely with CAMHS,CSC and

Children's centres, AMHWorks to link vulnerable families into the

local network and services

Service Development

A Young Carers StoryTroubled Families Keeping the Family In Mind DVD

Think Family in a time of cuts

Asking the right questionsSharing informationThinking differentlyTalk to the ChildrenTalk to the ParentsShare resources

Overcoming the local barriers

What your service would need to changeWhat your staff would need to changeWhat you need to change

Useful Resources

www.scie.org.uk

www.barnados.org.uk/youngcarers

www.c4eo.org.uk

www.ncb.org.uk

www.family-action.org.uk

www.rethink.org.uk

www.mind.org.uk

Chris.mccree@slam.nhs.uk