How Adult Psychiatry Professional’s View Children

Background: Children of parents with a mental illness need support from adult psychiatric services. Efforts have been made to enhance the knowledge of practitioners in this field so that they may work in a more family- oriented manner and to include children in the therapeutic services they provide. Aim: This study investigates how adult psychiatry services works with families and children when a parent has a mental illness. Method: Twenty-four Swedish professional care providers were interviewed individually or in focus groups. Data was analyzed using an inductive content method. Results: Although the professionals knew that their patients had minor children, they still prioritized the individual relationship they had with the parent. Few efforts were made to include both children and families in the treatment offered, and when this happened it was done at the professional's own discretion. Conclusion: Despite the mandatory Swedish obligation to pay attention to a patient's children, our study showed that professionals tend to fall short in this regard. Adult psychiatry services needs to strengthen family -oriented work in order to provide support to such children.