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Child responsible personnel in adult mental health services
Camilla Lauritzen1, Charlotte Reedtz1
1Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, RKBU-Nord, UiT-Arctic University of Norway, 9037 Tromsø, Norway.
Insights
Establishing child responsible personnel in adult mental health services improves support for children of parents with mental illness. This initiative enhances staff knowledge and awareness regarding the consequences of parental mental illness on children.
Area of Science:
- Mental Health Services Research
- Child Welfare Studies
- Public Health Policy
Background:
- Children of parents with mental illness are a vulnerable population requiring early intervention.
- Designating child-focused personnel in adult mental health settings is a strategy to address family needs.
- Norwegian hospitals have mandated child responsible personnel in all wards since 2010.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the appointment of child responsible personnel in adult mental health services.
- To describe the characteristics, competence, and knowledge of this personnel.
- To assess collaboration with other services for child follow-up.
Main Methods:
- A questionnaire survey administered to staff at psychiatric clinics in a Norwegian university hospital.
- Data collected in 2010 (N=219) before legislation implementation.
- Follow-up surveys in 2013 (N=185) and 2015 (N=108) to monitor changes and sustainability.
Main Results:
- Systematic changes in clinical practice were observed following the legislation.
- Routines for following up children of parents with mental illness were partially implemented.
- Child responsible personnel demonstrated increased knowledge and awareness of parental mental illness impacts on children.
Conclusions:
- Establishing child responsible personnel in adult mental health services can help safeguard children of mentally ill parents.
- This systemic change appears to be an effective tool for improving child outcomes.
- Further development and definition of the child responsible role are recommended.
Background:
Children who have parents with mental health problems are a vulnerable group. Intervening early to support parents with a mental illness can contribute to improve outcomes for children. Rigging the adult mental health system in such a manner that child responsible personnel are designated in wards is a strategy to systematically address the needs of families. It has since 2010 been mandatory for Norwegian hospitals to appoint such personnel in all hospital wards. The current study aimed to investigate the appointment of child responsible personnel in the adult mental health services in a regional hospital with local clinics. Additionally, to describe the characteristics of child responsible staff in terms of gender and educational background, their competence, clinical practice and knowledge about parental mental illness. A final aim was to study whether or not the clinics had established collaboration with other services concerning follow-up for the children of parents with mental illness.
Method:
Participants in this study are the staff at psychiatric clinics in a large university hospital in Norway. Practitioners were asked to answer a questionnaire prior to the initial process of implementing the new legislation in 2010 (N = 219). After a three-year period of implementing routines to adopt the new law in the clinic, the same survey was sent out to the staff in 2013 (N = 185) to monitor if changes were taking place. To study if the changes were sustained within the clinics, we conducted a two-year follow up in 2015 (N = 108).
Results:
The results indicated that the systematic work to change clinical practice in the participating hospital had made a difference. Routines to follow up children's patients after the new legislation had to some extent been implemented. The child responsible personnel had more knowledge and awareness about the consequences of parental mental illness for children.
Conclusion:
The results of this study suggested that the systems change of establishing child responsible personnel within adult mental health services may be a tool contributing to safeguarding children of mentally ill parents. However, the role of being a child responsible should be further developed and defined.
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