Mental Health Professionals' Experiences with Applying a Family-Centred Care Focus in Their Clinical Work

Abstract

Family members play vital roles in supporting their young adults with mental health challenges, implying that professionals are challenged to apply a Family-Centred Care approach (FCC) in community mental health services. By applying a qualitative phenomengraphic approach, this study aimed to explore and describe professionals' experiences of applying a FCC approach. Based on data from 13 individual interviews, the descriptive categories were: Mutual understanding, Facing dilemmas and Dealing with barriers. Despite the professionals' expressed desires to involve the family, individual treatment and follow-up seemed to characterize their daily clinical practice, often due to the young adults' own wishes.

A Balancing Act: A Systematic Review and Metasynthesis of Family-Focused Practice in Adult Mental Health Services

“…This subtheme illustrates that practitioner's beliefs about FFP impacted their practice. Practitioners, in principle, acknowledged the importance of considering wider family, including children, in their service-users' care (Grant et al, 2019;Grant & Reupert, 2016;Hjärthag et al, 2017;Leenman & Arblaster, 2020;Maddocks et al, 2010;O'Brien et al, 2011;Pfeiffenberger et al, 2016;Sjöblom et al, 2005;Skundberg-Kletthagen et al, 2020;Slack & Webber, 2008;Strand & Rudolfsson, 2018;Radley et al, 2021;Tchnernegovski et al, 2018a;Ward et al, 2017). It was described by some as a "basic attitude" (Sunde et al, 2021, p. 5) that had the ability to "break the cycle of intergenerational mental illness" (Tchernegovski et al, 2018a, p. 5) and support recovery efforts (Foster & Isobel, 2018;Sunde et al, 2021;Ward et al, 2017).…”

“…(Strand & Rudolfsson, 2018, p. 66) We all know that if you don't engage the family meaningfully, people's recoveries are limited. (Ward et al, 2017, p. 3) Despite reflections of FFP as important, most practitioners believed FFP was an additional duty and extension to their routine practice requiring more time and resources (Grant & Reupert, 2016;Krumm et al, 2019;Lauritzen and Reedtz, 2013;Leenman & Arblaster, 2020;Pfeiffenberger et al, 2016;Skundberg-Kletthagen et al, 2020;Strand & Rudolfsson, 2018;Sunde et al, 2021;Radley et al, 2021;Ward et al, 2017). FFP is not suitably resourced despite increased practice demands, which led to a need to prioritise elsewhere (Grant & Reupert, 2016;Lauritzen & Reedtz, 2013;Strand & Rudolfsson, 2018;Sunde et al, 2021).…”

Young adults suffering from mental illness: Evaluation of the family‐centred support conversation intervention from the perspective of mental healthcare professionals

“…The mental healthcare professionals recognise that mental illness is a family affair (Skundberg-Kletthagen et al, 2020).…”

“…The FCSC might challenge constraining beliefs and make it possible to speak of the unspeakable (Aass et al, 2020). A study by Skundberg-Kletthagen et al, (2020) described meeting families experiencing many difficulties and a high level of conflict as a balancing act. Ensuring that all the family members are addressed in a caring way places demands on the mental healthcare professionals.…”

“…For the young adult, support from significant others may open up for a sense of a space to live in and be nourished (Sommer & Saevi, 2018). Traditionally, mental healthcare professionals in the community mental health service meet the young adults suffering from mental illness in individual or group consultations without the family being present or there being a family assessment focus (Reed et al, 2018;Skundberg-Kletthagen et al, 2020). A literature review shows that although various forms of support interventions can be of importance for the family members, they are only put to limited use (Ewertzon & Hanson, 2019).…”