Needs of family members unmet with parent hospitalization for mental illness

The needs of families are largely unmet when a parent is hospitalized for a mental illness, with the need for a broad range of care models required to address these gaps, according to a study published in BMC Psychiatry.

“Children who grow up with a parent with a severe and chronic mental illness are at substantial risk of acquiring their own difficulties with mental health and/or substance abuse,” Andrea Reupert, professor at the school of educational psychology and counseling at Monash University in Australia, and colleagues wrote.

Reupert and colleagues reviewed qualitative studies of family members’ experiences when parents with dependent children required hospitalization for their mental illness — including children from birth to 18 years old, partners, partners, grandparents, extended family members, as well as retrospective accounts from childhood of the adults and other family members.

The authors’ systematic review followed Cochrane Collaboration and PRISMA guidelines, with searches from databases such as CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, ProQuest, MEDLINE, PubMed and Scopus focusing on terms relating to parents, mental illness, psychiatric treatment, inpatient units, family members and experiences. From an initial search that yielded 1,328 records, eight papers were identified as suitable for analysis. Quality assessment was undertaken with an expanded version of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme, while thematic synthesis was conducted on the included papers.

Reupert and colleagues found several common themes among the included research, familial pressures when a parent received inpatient treatment and the resulting emotional and practical burdens, the lack of information provided to parents, children and close relatives on how to handle children’s visits to the hospital and the potential negative impact of the disruption of the parent-child bond while a parent sought inpatient services.

In addition, the review found that children needed guidance from family members on how to handle various emotions and how to interact with others given the emotional burden of the situation.

“The review highlighted the importance of models of care that include family friendly visiting rooms and appointment times,” Reupert and colleagues wrote. “But also, competent staff and procedures to support the parent, children and other family members during this time.”