Preventive family service coordination for parents with a mental illness in the Netherlands

The Preventive Basic Care Management (PBCM) program is a Dutch service coordination program for parents with mental illnesses, which focuses on organizing tailored support from various services for parents and their children from a preventive perspective.

The article discusses our efforts to make PBCM evidence-based, as well as the theoretical underpinnings, goals, the model of service coordination, and steps of the intervention. The main elements are systematic monitoring of parents' and children's vulnerabilities, strengths, and resources; strengthening parenting skills; facilitating access to a variety of services to address vulnerabilities; and overall planning and coordination of these preventive services.

The theoretical underpinnings and intervention methodology of PBCM were developed in critical dialogues between practitioners and researchers about the focus and effective elements of service coordination for parents with mental illnesses. Data on feasibility and effectiveness came from pilot studies and retrospective interviews. Descriptive data about participants of an ongoing randomized controlled trial illustrate the needs of these families.

The service coordination program for parents with mental illnesses seems feasible and effective in tackling bottlenecks caused by fragmentation of the services supporting these families, who have varied and fluctuating needs.