Services needed for mental illness in families

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Better services needed for families living with mental illness

New Zealand is lagging behind growing international recognition of the potential impact on children of living with parents who have a mental illness, says social work researcher Barbara Staniforth.

Despite recent attempts to address the needs of children growing up in families where a parent has a mental illness, there is so far no system in place that coordinates mental health services and Child, Youth and Family services, says Ms Staniforth from the School of Social and Cultural Studies.

This is despite recent CYF research showing up to a third of the service’s referrals are children who have a parent with a mental illness.

Ms Staniforth, who is based at Massey’s Auckland campus, has been evaluating a Home and Family Society pilot project funded CYF that provides weekly counselling and support for a year for families where a parent is using mental health services.

She is currently considering recommendations based on her findings to date, and says her observations show “that there needs to be a coordinated response from all agencies involved with the families”.

According to research by Australia’s Royal College of Psychiatrists, taking action early in a child’s life is important. Failure to do so carries risks of children becoming withdrawn, anxious, having difficulty concentrating on school work, feeling ashamed of their parent’s illness and worrying about becoming ill themselves.

ENDS

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