Psychiatric emergencies: assessing parents of dependent children

Abstract

Frameworks within which services are delivered to people with mental health problems neglect the specific needs of those with dependent children. These children have been identified as having risks to their development and well-being. A system of monitoring social assessments of mental health crisis is used to examine the characteristics of parents assessed in seven Local Authorities across 3 calendar years. Parents of dependent children are underrepresented, and are more likely to be women and to suffer from affective psychosis. Ethnic minorities are over-represented. Parents are less likely to be detained following assessment. Further work is needed to establish whether the needs of the family as a whole are addressed.

Social Work with Children when Parents have Mental Health Difficulties: Acknowledging Vulnerability and Maintaining the “Rights of the Child”

“…Increasing numbers of Mental Health Service users are parents, many of whom are children's primary caregivers (Hatfield, Webster, & Mohhamad, 1997;McGrath et al, 1999;White, Nicholson, & Fisher, 1995). Globally, approximately 60% of women with enduring mental health difficulties have children under 16 years of age (Reder, McClure, and Jolley, 2000, p. 175); and within the United Kingdom, research by Gillam, Crofts, Fadden, and Corbett (2003), p. 34) identified that between 25% and 49% of Community Mental Health (CMH) Team service users were parents of dependent children.…”

Children of Mothers Admitted to Psychiatric Hospital: Care Arrangements and Mothers' Perceptions

“…Very little is known about the care arrangements for children when women are taken into hospital, despite the Department of Health highlighting the ' significance and effect of parental mental health problems on children ' (Department of Health, 1997). Hatfield, Webster and Mohamad (1997) report that just over half of all psychiatric admission episodes involve women (Department of Health, 1995) but information on parental status does not seem to be routinely recorded (Stormont et al, 1997). Once psychiatric patients are recognised as parents and part of a family unit, it is important that the impact of their situation is considered.…”

Psychotic disorders and parenting - the relevance of patients' children for general adult psychiatric services

“…Women with psychotic disorders are more likely than men with psychosis to be involved in child care. A study of 551 Mental Health Act assessments involving parents living with dependent children found that 72% involved women (Hatfield et al, 1997).…”