Family Members with Overlapping Mental Health Needs Require the Transformation of Systems and Services

Joanne Nicholson, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Kathleen Biebel, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Beth R. Hinden, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Valerie Williams, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Bernice Gershenson, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Judith Katz-Leavy

Abstract

Women and men with a lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorder are at least as likely to be parents as are adults without psychiatric disorder. The majority of adults in all diagnostic categories are parents, including those meeting criteria for affective and anxiety disorders, PTSD, and non-affective psychosis. Children with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) receiving services in Systems of Care (SOCs) programs may have multiple family risk factors. Family-centered, strengths-based practices require a paradigm shift in the way administrators and providers view and intervene with children and adults.

Presented at The Santa Fe Summit on Behavioral Health, the American College of Mental Health Administration, Santa Fe, New Mexico, March 2005.