Foster parents' experiences of using child mental health and welfare services in Norway: Associations with youth, placement, and service characteristics

Abstract

The measurement of user experience has gained international attention as a tool for improving quality of care. Because foster families have a high need for service support, we examined quality of care from the foster parent's perspective and associated characteristics. We collected information about type and frequency of service use in the last 2 years and standardized measures of user-reported experiences and outcomes from foster parents of youths aged 11-18 years in Norway (N = 290). We analysed the data using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests and multiple regressions. Overall, foster parents had positive service experiences, and around half reported improvement in youth condition and function compared with before the service contact. The foster parents gave similar evaluations of child welfare services and specialized mental health services but indicated different strengths and weaknesses of the providers. Younger age, more frequent service contact and less waiting time were associated with positive service experiences, while less mental health problems and fewer years in current foster home were related to positive perceptions of outcomes. Our results indicate focus areas for increasing quality of care from the user perspective, for example, sharing information, cooperation between services, having frequent enough service contact and reducing waiting time. K E Y W O R D S child and adolescent mental health services, child welfare services, foster care, perceived outcomes, quality of care, user experiences 1 | INTRODUCTION Measures of user experience have increased in public reporting, and there is growing evidence that health officials and clinicians have become more responsive to user reports (Anhang Price et al., 2014). In 2017, health ministers from various Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries highlighted the need for measuring patient-reported experiences and outcomes of care (OECD Health Ministers, 2017). Despite this international trend, we know little about how foster families in Norway and other European countries experience care and perceive the outcomes of the services they receive. The present study examines foster parents' service experiences and perceived outcomes following contact with services in Norway and associations with youth, placement, and service characteristics.

Szolgáltatásminőség-mérés és -értékelés bevezetése egy gyermekvédelemi intézményben a nevelőszülői képzések fejlesztésének céljával

“…Brown (2008) szintén kvalitatív kutatása eredményeként a nevelőszülői szerep sikertényezői között azonosítja még az intézményi munkatársakkal kialakított kapcsolat fontosságát, a nevelőszülői munka elismerését, a nevelőszülői, intézményi és jóléti rendszer felelősségi és hatásköreinek tisztázását, valamint a nevelőszülői hálózat kiépítésének szükségességét az együttműködés támogatásának céljával. Larsen et al (2020) nevelőszülők elégedettségfelmérésének eredményeképpen a szolgáltatásminőség fejlesztése szempontjából az információk megosztásának, a szolgáltatások összekapcsolásának fontosságát, a szolgáltatási kapcsolat gyakoriságát, intenzitását és a várakozási idő csökkentését emeli ki kritikus sikertényezőként.…”

Longitudinal outcomes of employment, income and housing for Flemish care leavers

“…More foster care leavers than residential care leavers were incorporated in the study. There is a clear difference between the two forms of out-of-home placement, as earlier indicated (Gypen et al, 2019;Larsen et al, 2020;Li et al, 2019). Residential care offers more specialized care and has more formal treatment programs than foster care, while foster care makes place for more individual attention and attachment (Li et al, 2019).…”

“…Children placed in residential care are often older and have more behavioural- or emotional problems. This makes it difficult to draw unambiguous conclusions about the effects of care (Gypen, Vanderfaeillie, Van Vreckem, & Van Holen, 2019; Larsen et al, 2020; Li et al, 2019). Nevertheless, numerous studies indicate that when an out-of-home placement is necessary, family foster care is the first option of choice.…”

A study of the relationship between parents’ educational behavior and children’s psychological development based on linear regression models

“…Family functioning plays an important role in the physical and mental development of young children. Developing family functions to promote the physical and mental harmony of young children, ensuring that young children can fully enjoy the basic material and spiritual products, helping young children to obtain physical and mental happiness, emotional health, social relations, good habits and basic skills, so that young children can grow up in affection and care, and promote the development of positive emotional feelings and good habits of young children, which can effectively promote the physical and mental health of young children [6][7][8].…”