AICAFMHA:
promoting mental health for young Australians
Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association Ltd
ABN 87 093 479 022

Appendices 1-3

Forward/Contents/Etc
Executive Summary  (includes brief recommendations)
Report in Full
Issues & Recommendations
Appendices 1-3
Appendices 4-5

Background

The proposal for a national association was made at the Inaugural Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference held in Adelaide in February 1995. A steering committee, including professionals and consumers, was formed at the second national conference in Melbourne at the end of 1996. This steering committee has been working toward the development of a national association since then. Support for the development of the association was further confirmed at the third national conference held in Sydney in mid-1998. The Association was incorporated in June, 2000.

The development of the national association has included activities such as the development of a discussion paper describing the philosophical basis for the association and its primary objectives. This information, along with updates of steering committee membership, conference reports and consumer involvement, has been circulated to people who have indicated an interest in the association via newsletters, the first of which was produced in October 1997.

Membership of the organisation is open to all people concerned with the mental health of infants, children, adolescents and families. This includes professionals, consumers, carers and any others with an interest in these fields. Further information about AICAFMHA and its activities is available online at http://www.aicafmha.net.au.

Charter

Aim

The overall aim of the association is to actively promote the mental health and wellbeing of infants, children and adolescents, and their families or carers.

Philosophical framework and guiding principles

• The full range of mental health issues affecting the young and their families or carers are considered from individual development, family life cycle and community perspectives.
  
• Collaborative partnerships throughout Australia are the keynote, between all professional groups working in the mental health field with the young and their families, and with relevant community groups, carers and consumers of mental health services, from a fully representative range of geographic, cultural, social and economic backgrounds.
  
• Partnerships in advocacy in the public arena are vital for effective promotion, prevention, early intervention, treatment and follow-up programs in child and adolescent mental health and it is important that these are pursued in a context of human rights principles (for example, the International Covenant on the Rights of the Child).
  
• A broad approach to infant, child, adolescent and family mental health provides the basis for wide dissemination of scientific knowledge in this area and for encouraging the development of relevant qualitative and quantitative studies of the highest research standard.
  
• Collaboration and consultation is valued with other national, international, state-based and local organisations that promote enhancement of mental health, focusing upon the needs of the young and their families.
  
• A range of consultative processes with young people, families and carers is valued, processes which are inclusive and appropriate to the age level of the young people involved.
  
• It is appreciated that there are approaches to working with infants, children, adolescents and their families that are fundamentally and distinctly different from those relevant to adult mental health service provision.

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Objectives

The broad objectives of the association are:

• to represent all professions working with infants, children and adolescents and their families in the area of mental health, and all consumers and carers;

• to facilitate members and non-members sharing information and views in the area of infant, child, adolescent and family mental health;

• to formulate principles of best practice, promote research, gather data, disseminate information to agencies and professionals in contact with infants, children and adolescents and to the public, and advise government and non-government bodies, in the area of infant, child, adolescent and family mental health;

• to lobby for increased funding for practice and research in the area of infant, child, adolescent and family mental health; and

• to liaise with other organisations which represent the mental health interests of infants, children, adolescents and their families, or of consumers and carers.

Specific objectives are as follows:

1. Representation and sharing

• To ensure national representation within the organisation, of all professional disciplines working with the young and their families in the broad area of mental health, and of consumers and carers.

• To provide ongoing forums in which all groups represented state their views and have open access to decision-making processes within the organisation.

• To organise information-sharing events and processes, such as conferences, workshops and newsletters, for members and non-members of the association, and to promote relevant publications.

• To encourage and support the efforts of relevant groups aiming to set up formal organisations to represent their interests.

• To develop partnerships with consumers of mental health services to better meet their needs and priorities.

2. Principles and data regarding best practice

• To promote research consistent with the organisation and which values diversity and innovation. This would include lobbying for research/funding in service provision.

• To formulate principles of best practice based on scientific knowledge and understanding, which incorporate the experiences of consumers and carers, cognisant of the relevant national standards, for example, those of the Community Health Accreditation Standards Program (CHASP) and the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards (ACHS) and the National Mental Health Standards.

• To compile up-to-the-minute scientific data regarding the effectiveness of systems and interventions involved in service delivery and health promotion in this area.

• To disseminate scientific knowledge about mental health issues to all agencies and professionals who have contact with young people.

• To stand ready to develop specific briefing papers on issues concerning practice as they arise in government and non-government sectors and as they arise in the public domain.
  

3. Advocacy

• To lobby for increased funding for practice and research in this field.

• To provide advice to government and non-government bodies, concerning the mental health needs and the priorities of the young and their families, for policy-making, planning, decision-making and funding purposes.
  
• To present to the general public relevant information and opinion as required, in order to facilitate an appreciation of a wide range of issues in young people’s mental health.
  
• To seek representation on other relevant peak organisations concerned with mental health issues.
  
• To encourage and support consumers of mental health services and carers to actively participate in the planning and development of mental health services.

4. Collaboration with other organisations within Australia and overseas

• To liaise, on an ongoing basis, with other national organisations representing the interests of the young and their families or carers, and those representing the interests of consumers of mental health services.

• To liaise, as appropriate, with state-based and local organisations representing the interests of the young and their families or carers, and those representing the interests of consumers of mental health services.

• To liaise with international and overseas organisations representing the mental health interests of the young and their families or carers, including the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions.
  

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Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association Limited

Children whose Parents have a Mental Illness

Mental Health Promotion and Prevention

Scoping Project

Questionnaire — Return by: Wednesday 15^th December 1999

 

Project Title:

Position:

Organisation:_______________________________________________

Address:

State: Post code:

Phone: Fax:

E-mail:

PROJECT OVERVIEW

1. Is your organisation currently providing a program that directly or indirectly addresses the needs of children under the age of 18 years whose parents have a mental illness?

o Yes o No

If Yes, proceed to question 2.

If No, please answer just the following question and return the questionnaire.

Does your organisation have any plans to meet the needs of children whose parents have a mental illness in the future?

o Yes o No

If yes, please describe:

2. Please describe the program in 150 words or less.

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3. Does the program address any of the following national priority mental health targets regarding families where children under the age of 18 have a parent who has a mental illness (please tick all those that apply to your program):

• Promote optimism, resilience, social and emotional wellbeing for children whose parents have mental health problems and disorders
• Engage families where one or both parents have a mental illness in mental health promotion and prevention programs
• Initiatives aimed at reducing the impact of risk factors on the mental health of all family members
• Enhance parenting skills, child development and family functioning
• Promote strong and positive attachments between parent and child
• Promote child and family participation in school and community activities
• Other (see below)

Are there any other national priority mental health targets that your program is

addressing? Please list:

4. Does the program use any of the following strategies to address the needs of children under the age of 18 years whose parents have a mental illness?

• Support groups for the children whose parents have a mental illness
• Support groups for parents who have a mental illness
• Supported accommodation for families where a parent has a mental illness
• Respite care for families where a parent has a mental illness
• Education on child development for parents who have a mental illness
• Education on mental illness for children whose parent has a mental illness
• Home-based support
• Individual counselling regarding parenting issues with parents who have a mental illness
• Individual counselling regarding issues arising from having a parent with a mental illness
• Camps for children and/or their parents

5. Is your program/organisation endeavouring to address the needs of children whose parents have a mental illness through improvement in the following service-delivery strategies? (tick any that apply):

• Service initiatives to improve the identification of adults who have a mental illness who are also parents.
• Establishment of best practice principles to ensure appropriate service response to the needs of children whose parents have a mental illness
• Education of staff regarding the needs of children whose parents have a mental illness
• Establishment of interagency networks of professionals sharing ideas/strategies and
• Advocacy for children whose parents have a mental illness
• Other (please specify) :________________

6. What degree of interagency collaboration is involved in your program? (please circle the number that applies):

Please describe the nature of any collaboration:

Are any of the following agencies involved? (please tick all that apply to your program):

• Child and adolescent mental health services
• Adult mental health services
• Legal services
• Child and youth health services
• Welfare services
• Schools
• Child care
• Foster care/alternative care services
• Maternal and child health services
• Child protection services
• Other (please specify):

Does the collaboration focus on:

• Ensuring the needs of the child(ren) and their parents are met eg interagency case discussion
• Improving identification of children whose parents have a mental illness

7. Please describe additional strategies used to achieve the program’s aims and objectives.

8. Who is the program’s target group(s)? (please tick all those that apply to your program):

• Antenatal
• Infants and toddlers aged 0–4 years
• Children aged 5-11 years
• Young people aged 12-17 years
• Young adults aged 18 years and over
• Other: (please specify)

9. Is your program:

• Local
• Regional
• State-wide
• National

10. Which of the following mental health outcomes does the program address? (please tick all those that apply to your program):

• Improved support for children whose parents have a mental illness
• Improved mental health among children whose parents have a mental illness
• Increased knowledge and understanding by the children of their parent’s mental illness and available mental health services for their parents
• Reduced feelings of stigma amongst children whose parents have a mental illness
• Other (please specify):

11. Please indicate the type of research evidence that underpins the design of the program? (please tick all those that apply to your program):

• A systematic review of all relevant randomised controlled trials
• Evidence obtained from at least one randomised controlled trial
• Evidence obtained from well-designed pseudo-randomised controlled trials
• Evidence obtained from comparative studies with concurrent controls and allocation not randomised (cohort studies), case-control studies, or interrupted time series with a control group
• Evidence obtained from comparative studies with historical control, two or more single-arm studies, or interrupted time series with a parallel control group
• Evidence obtained from case series, either post-test or pre-test and post test
• Other (please specify and cite references where applicable):

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12. Has/will the program be evaluated?

o Yes o No (if No, go to question 13)

If yes, what evaluation strategies are being employed (please tick all those that apply to your program):

• Standardised or published pre and post-program measures
• Program specific pre and post-program measures
• Trend analysis of existing data (eg referral rates pre and post-intervention)
• Focus groups
• Consumer satisfaction survey
• Other (please specify):

13. Did/do you have a control group as part of your evaluation?

o Yes o No

14. Please describe the evidence you have on the effectiveness of your program?

(please include the results of any evaluation):

15. The Mental Health Promotion and Prevention National Action Plan states that mental health promotion focuses on improving the environments which affect mental health and enhance the coping capacity of communities as well as individuals. Examples of mental health promotion strategies are skill development programs (eg parenting programs), strategies which enhance social networks (eg community-based activities) as well as activities which reduce stress levels and enhance coping skills (eg relaxation and massage).What strategies does this program utilise that contribute to the promotion of positive mental health and/or the prevention of mental health problems for children whose parents have a mental illness?

16. Do you believe the mental health components of the program could be expanded?

o Yes o No

If yes, please describe how you believe this could occur:

17. In what way are consumers involved in the planning of this program?

18. Is the program part of a larger program or agency?

o Yes o No

If yes, please describe:

19. Who funds the program?

• State government
• Private body
• Non-government body
• Commonwealth government
• Local government
• Other (please specify):

Thankyou for taking the time to complete this questionnaire.

Please return to: Sue McAllister

C/- Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Division of Mental Health,

72 King William Road, North Adelaide SA 5006

Ph: 08 8204 7389 Fax: 08 8204 7371 email: mcallistes@wch.sa.gov.au

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APPENDIX 3: SUPPLEMENTARY RESULTS

The following information was also gathered on analysis of questionnaire responses, and is relevant to statements made in the discussion, or of interest to particular readers.

Future plans

Table 1: Future plans by state

*Note that three ‘no’ responses were identified in the data but not attributable to a particular state.

Client strategies

It is difficult to comment on the types of strategies used in different states given the small numbers involved, however a summary of activities in each state is included in chapter 5, Results. However, tables 2 and 3 below summarise the situation for the two states (New South Wales and Victoria) that have the most programs with direct client service strategies. Of the other states, Queensland has one program that offers a support group for children with parents affected by mental illness, which includes education on mental illness for the children. South Australia and Western Australia each have two programs that fit this category, which offer complimentary strategies, but neither offer supported accommodation or respite care. Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory have no programs offering direct service to these clients.

Table 2: Client strategies used by programs by state: New South Wales

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*Only eight of the 13 programs in New South Wales responded to this section of the questionnaire.

Table 3: Client strategies used by programs by state: Victoria

*Only 14 of the 18 programs responded to this section.

Target groups

Respondents were asked to indicate which age group (or groups) was the target group for their program (see table 4 below). A state-by-state breakdown of which age groups the various states are addressing is summarised in table 5 below.

Table 4: Program target age group(s)

Table 5: Program target age group(s) by state

*The two programs in Tasmania didn’t have target age groups.

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Last Modified: 11-12-2002 16:35:13