Journal of Parent and Family Mental Health

How Health Visitors Can Impact Perinatal Mental Health

Rachel Aine Leonard et al. — Thu, 01 Aug 2019 08:34:59 PDT

Maternal mental illness is a growing public health concern. The impact of mental illness during the perinatal period (during pregnancy or up to one year after giving birth) can be significant not only for mothers but also for their children, partners and wider family. Health visitors (qualified nurses or midwives who have undertaken specialist training in community public health) are in a unique position during the perinatal period to support mothers and their families. However, the type of support and its frequency in health visiting can vary. In addition, there is limited research that considers what factors may enable or hinder health visitors’ family-focused practice. This issue brief provides an overview of current health visiting practice in maternal mental health, places family-focused practice within the context of health visiting and outlines future research developments.

Mothers, Mental Health and Opioids: Engaging with Researchers @research4moms.com

Shayna Mazel et al. — Fri, 10 May 2019 02:38:20 PDT

Co-occurring mental illness and opioid misuse is a significant and rising public health issue for mothers in the US. In recent years, opioid misuse during pregnancy has increased a great deal.¹ Only a small subset of mothers will seek and receive help for themselves and their children.^{2, 3} When it is sought, treatment is not necessarily targeted or tailored to meet the needs of mothers and families.¹ We are bringing mothers and researchers together to promote a shared understanding of mothers’ experiences and needs, and to inform research that is relevant, meaningful and effective, with the goal of improving mental health/opioid misuse treatment and outcomes for mothers and children.

Using Picture-Story Books to Help Families Understand Turbulent Parental Emotions in Families with Small Children

Anne Sved Williams et al. — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 14:37:39 PST

A parent’s struggle to manage their emotions may have significant impact on small children. Helping a child understand in the here and now about what is going on for the parent, without blaming that parent or the child, may be useful for the child. It may also lead the child to seek different models of managing emotions and self-concepts. Reading books with children, or bibliotherapy, could be useful for parents who experience stress-related “meltdowns” or perhaps live with mental health conditions such as borderline personality disorder, and for those working with small children in educational, child care or child protection settings. This brief uses Meltdown Moments, a picture-story book written by an experienced mental health clinician and illustrated by a professional artist with lived experience of emotional turmoil, as an example of what may help in conversations about what is going on in the family.

Meeting the Intergenerational Needs of Families Where a Parent Has a Mental Illness [English and Spanish versions]

Melinda Goodyear et al. — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 06:41:26 PDT

Parental mental illness can have significant psychological, social and economic impacts on families. Because of the potential impact of a parent’s mental illness on children, it can also have an “intergenerational” impact. For example, children may develop a heightened awareness of their parent’s symptoms, become burdened with caring responsibilities and may even develop their own mental health conditions though a mix of genetic and environmental influences. It is important for services to address the intergenerational impacts of parental mental illness. This issue brief is about one program in Australia that may be able to meet the intergenerational needs of families where a parent has a mental illness.

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under "Additional Files".

Mental Health Literacy for Children with a Parent with a Mental Illness [English and Spanish versions]

Joanne Riebschleger et al. — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 07:25:50 PDT

Promoting mental health literacy is an effective strategy to protect the wellbeing of parents with mental illness and their children. Mental health literacy is part of health literacy; it is defined as “one’s level of understanding about mental health attitudes and conditions, as well as one’s ability to prevent, recognize, and cope with these conditions” (Jorm et al., 1997 p. 182). Mental health literacy can be developed by mental health providers discussing mental illness, recovery, and coping with parents and family members, including children. Increased mental health literacy leads to engagement in mental health promotion and (for the child) prevention focused activities (Beardslee, Solantaus, Morgan, Gladstone, & Kowalenko, 2013).

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under "Additional Files".

Enhancing Family Communication in Families Where a Parent has a Mental Illness [English and Spanish versions]

Scott Yates et al. — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 07:25:30 PST

In this brief we will discuss the Think Family-Whole Family Programme, which differs from other interventions by putting a central focus on fostering effective communication within families. This can enhance families’ understanding of parental mental illness (PMI) and how it affects behavior and relationships, help families jointly set goals for recovery, and enable more supportive interactions among family members.

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under "Additional Files".

The Family Model [English and Spanish versions]

Adrian Falkov — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 04:55:22 PDT

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under "Additional Files."

The Family Model provides clinicians and managers with a brief, accessible, and practical approach that supports collaborative ways of working with individuals and their families in which one or more members experience mental illness. It can be used as a tool to foster engagement and facilitate thought about connections between symptoms and relationships, while highlighting a family’s strengths and difficulties.

A Call for Comprehensive Perinatal Psychotherapy Training [English and Spanish versions]

Carolyn Broudy — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 12:49:10 PDT

Research has provided us with a tremendously rich understanding of the perinatal period and the kind of psychotherapeutic techniques that can effectively address issues that arise during this time. It is now time to more fully integrate and disseminate this knowledge to providers who are working with the perinatal population so it can be widely used in thoughtful and nuanced ways.

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under "Additional Files".

Into the Light: Using Technology to Develop a Mother/Family Centered Peer Support Network [English and Spanish versions]

Shannon Hennig et al. — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 07:35:11 PST

This paper highlights the work of Postpartum Progress Inc., to engage with large online communities of women experiencing a perinatal mental health issue, in order to explore the efficacy of peer support as a treatment modality. "Into the Light" is a Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Pipeline to Proposal project that will bring together diverse stakeholders and patients to build collaborative partnerships. Project goals include developing patient engagement, recruitment and dissemination strategies that reflect the needs of this patient population. Increasing patient access to easily understood information about treatment options when making health care decisions and improving patient-centered research strategies are also aims of the project.

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under "Additional Files".

Paternal Postpartum Depression [English and Spanish versions]

Kathleen Biebel et al. — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 14:50:07 PDT

While postpartum depression (PPD) has historically been associated primarily with mothers, recently there has been increased awareness of the experience of fathers and strategies to address postpartum depression in men. For fathers willing to seek help, the lack of recognition of paternal PPD results in limited supports and treatments. Given the potential implications of paternal PPD, it is essential for new fathers and their healthcare providers to recognize the prevalence of paternal PPD, the symptoms, and the challenges surrounding this issue for men.

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under "Additional Files".