Skip to main content

COMMUNITY CASE STUDY article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1409216
This article is part of the Research Topic Parents with Mental and/or Substance Use Disorders and their Children, Volume III View all 29 articles

Implementing an integrated family approach in mental health care for families experiencing complex and multiple problems: A case example in Amsterdam

Provisionally accepted
A H. Zegwaard A H. Zegwaard 1,2*F J. Koop F J. Koop 3N Beuk N Beuk 1C W. Broeks C W. Broeks 4H L. Van H L. Van 4C Konijn C Konijn 3A Franken A Franken 1C M. Middeldorp C M. Middeldorp 1,3,5I Hein I Hein 3,6
  • 1 Arkin Youth and Family, youth and adolescent psychiatry, Arkin (Netherlands), Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 2 adult mental health care, Arkin, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 3 Levvel, specialized youth care, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 4 adult mental health care, Arkin (Netherlands), Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 5 department child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 6 department child and adolescent psychiatry, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    For youth care professionals who work with families with complex needs, we implemented an interagency, family-focused approach involving child and adult mental health care services and child protection services. The primary objective of the collaboration was to minimize fragmentation in service delivery and to improve practitioners' self-efficacy in supporting families. A total of 50 families were enrolled between 2020 and 2023. Quantitative descriptive analysis was conducted to map the sample characteristics and the correlations between the practitioners' consultation requests and the recommendations they received. We evaluated the applicability of the model using semistructured interviews. Results revealed the frequent socioeconomic and psychosocial challenges and co-current mental health issues faced by the families. As expected, practitioners who work with families experiencing complex and multiple problems encountered a range of difficulties in their service delivery. These related to barriers such as poor role demarcation between organizations, practitioners' unrealistic expectations of other services, the impact of multiple problems on family well-being, and complicated family dynamics. The interprofessional collaboration improved the practitioners' self-efficacy in supporting families. They also perceived improvements in child safety.The study emphasizes the need for clear pathways for youth care practitioners to obtain assistance from adult mental health services and to liaise with community support and services. It proposes including adults and young people with lived experiences in the interprofessional collaboration. The study data provides initial evidence that the interagency model has added value for youth care professionals who struggle with issues in family-focused care.

    Keywords: Family mental health, family approach, Integrated health care, families experiencing complex and multiple problems, Cross-domain collaboration, intergenerational transmission of psychopathology

    Received: 29 Mar 2024; Accepted: 29 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zegwaard, Koop, Beuk, Broeks, Van, Konijn, Franken, Middeldorp and Hein. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: A H. Zegwaard, Arkin Youth and Family, youth and adolescent psychiatry, Arkin (Netherlands), Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.