The current study analyzed blogs written by four Dutch parents of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities, with the aim of deepening the understanding of the parents’ concerns. Thematic analysis was conducted and five main themes were identified: Dealing with uncertainties addressed the impact of unpredictability present in the everyday lives of parents, Love and loss described the complexity of concurrently cherishing the child and grieving various types of loss, Struggling with time, energy and finances detailed imbalances and struggles related to parents’ personal resources, Feeling included in communities and society specified social consequences, and Relating to professional care services reflected on stress and support associated with professional care delivery. The study findings demonstrate how care professionals should acknowledge parents’ vulnerabilities by being aware of their existential distress and empowering parents to exercise control of family thriving.
With these results at hand we developed a new program and evaluated it . In this presentation we will reflect on the merits of this program but also share with you the insight gained from other studies that we did to in the context of the program. First a study on the prevalence to give us an indication of how many people with SMI have responsibilities as a parent. Working through these figures we have been wondering about the international differeecs in this aspect. Maybe you as an international crowd can help us to gain more insight in this subject. Second I will describe the intervention that was developed based on the imput of clients and building on the vision and methods of the Boston approach to rehabilition. At this moment more then 100 counselors are trained in this approach. To evaluate the intervention offered and establish some figures on its effectiveness, a quasi experimental study was done and I will present some of the results in the ample time we have. When developing the program and making an effort in implementing it in mental helath care, we became aware that there was still a lot to learn from both parents and mental health workers. During the experimental study, we learned that not many parents actually ask for support and that workers were enthousiastic about the training but did not find ways to implenent the program at full course. In this line of reasoning it became important to speak with different parents with SMI about the meaning of parenthood, how they succesfully dealt with the demands of parenting, waht it meant for their recovery and what kind of resources they used.
Chronic illness affects a person’s wellbeing and affects the ability to perform the social roles of spouse or parent. When working with people with long-lasting mental or somatic illnesses, social workers and nurses are confronted with needs for support, especially for parents. Although programs are in place for the children of parents with chronic illnesses, specific services for the parents themselves are scarce, as are parenting support courses for professionals. In an explorative study we investigated the similarities and differences between mental health organizations and general hospitals in providing support to parents. Using a cross-sectional design, information on supported parenting was collected through an internet questionnaire. Twice as many professionals in general hospitals can provide support to parents than did those in mental health organizations that were not trained in supported parenting. Professionals in mental health institutions generally reported that the attention paid to the parental role is insufficient. However, professionals in mental health organizations who were trained in supported parenting considered paying attention to the parental role more as a part of their job than the participants from organizations without such training. Further research should expand this first pilot study on the attitude of professionals towards supported parenting.
