1. Parent support for young people with mental illness Anne Honey Faculty of Health Sciences University of Sydney Contact anne.honey@sydney.edu.au Collaborators: Vikki Fraser, Sarah Alchin, Nicola Hancock, Gwynnyth Llewellyn

2. Parents can be a critical support for young people with mental illness E.g., Getting treatment Emotional support Environment Parent interventions Background

3. Parent support project 26 young people (15-24 y.o.) 32 parents 28 families: 22 matched But what do parents actually DO?

4. Method ›In-depth interviews (separate) ›Constant comparative analysis (Glaser, 1978)

5. Parent support project 1.What do parents do to try to help and support a young person with a mental illness? (“practices”) 2.What practices are more (and less) helpful?

6. What do parents do? ›78 distinct practices, each reflecting views of multiple participants Practice Types Practical assistance Personal interactions Environmental mgt Controlling Purposes/impacts Appropriate treatment Activities and behaviours Thoughts and feelings An ordinary life

7. Example: Lela and Sonja

8. Example: Appropriate treatment “She took me to heaps of doctors and stuff.” Practices Searching for appropriate professionals Making treatment attendance easy for the young person

9. Example: Activities and behaviours “The computer, one hour... she knows.” Practices Using authority and insistence to influence behaviour

10. Example: Thoughts and feelings “It always helps when they’re always smiling instead of being angry and loud”. Practices Staying calm/ withholding own negative emotions

11. Example: An ordinary life “It’s a major part in my daughter’s wellbeing for her to look in the family and not [see] ‘oh my gosh, she’s crazy.’” Practices Explaining the situation to other people

12. But that’s not all… Parents took action to improve their own: 1.Knowledge and understanding 2.Circumstances (in addition to the 78 practices)

13. Helpfulness ›Young people’s views often changed over time -“I wouldn’t really change it, because it worked.” -“I thought at the time that wasn’t the right thing, but now I think it was the right thing.” ›Very difficult for parents to know -Multiple practices -Other influences -Short-term v long term

14. Implications My thoughts ›Focus on parent practices rather than characteristics ›Opportunity for an evidence base -Wide range of practices used -Parents and young people can’t always assess helpfulness from experience -Parents seek information from a variety of sources Your thoughts?

15. Implications Your thoughts?

16. PUBLICATIONS ›Honey, A., Alchin, S. A., & Hancock, N. (2014). Promoting mental health and well- being for a young person with a mental illness: Parent occupations. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, early online. doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12111. ›Honey, A., Fraser, V., Llewellyn, G., Hazel, P., & Clark, S. (2013). Parental influence on the illness-related behavior of young people with mental illness: Young people's perceptions. Advances in Mental Health, 12(1) 63-74. ›anne.honey@sydney.edu.au