Taking a closer look: A cross-sector audit of families where a parent has a mental illness (original) (raw)

2009, The Australian e-journal for the advancement of mental health

Family life can be challenging, however, when a family member becomes unwell or stressors increase, relationships and family functioning can become disrupted. Despite enormous rewards, parenting can be difficult at times, even more so for those managing illness and disability and those with limited resources at hand. Parents are central to the lives of children and have great capacity to influence their growth and development from the very first moments of life. Parents with a mental illness may at times need extra support to manage the daily challenges of family life. Families that are vulnerable and marginalised due to mental illness have fewer opportunities to participate in community activities and children and parents in these families are more likely to experience an increased range of risks and poorer outcomes. This strategy has been developed to assist a range of services to provide more timely and coordinated family and personal supports for parents to be and parents experiencing a mental illness, those caring for them and their children. It is part of the Victorian Government's A Fairer Victoria commitment to support vulnerable families and improve the safety, health, development, learning and wellbeing of infants, children, young people and families. The State Government has committed an additional 8.7millionoverfiveyearstoexpandsupportforwomen′smentalhealthgenerally,ofwhich8.7 million over five years to expand support for women's mental health generally, of which 8.7millionoverfiveyearstoexpandsupportforwomen′smentalhealthgenerally,ofwhich2.4 million will be used to assist with the implementation of this strategy. Training for maternal and child health nurses will be expanded to further develop their expertise in identifying and responding to women with postnatal depression who care for young infants in the critical six months after childbirth. The government is also funding an increase of maternal and child health services to provide more mothers' groups and more inhome support as part of the $4.7 million to outer suburban councils. This document builds on the learnings of pilot projects jointly funded by government through the Mental Health Branch, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) and beyondblue, the VicCHAMPS and PATS projects, and represents a second stage of service development. It promotes a greater awareness of the impact of parental mental illness on all members of families. It will also aid in establishing and strengthening partnerships, networks and service innovations between mental health services and other agencies that will support children, young people and parents through accessible mainstream services wherever possible. Most importantly, the Families where a Parent has a Mental Illness Strategy (FaPMI Strategy) is another step in the prevention of, and early intervention in, mental health problems among children and young people, and increases the range of supports and the quality of care provided to those suffering from mental illness.