Legislative policy to support children of parents with a mental illness: revolution or evolution?

Abstract

In 2014, a Mental Health Act was introduced in Victoria, Australia which mandated clinicians to recognize and support consumers’ children. Interviews were conducted with 11 clinical adult mental health professionals about their views and experiences of the introduction of the Act and its impact on their practices. Interviews revealed that sections of the Act relating to consumers’ children were not promoted within organizations and did not result in revolutionary practice change. Instead, practice development staff within organizations were viewed as the main drivers of practices to support consumers’ children. Suggestions are made for enhancing the impact of legislation to promote practice change.

Keywords:

• Mental health legislation
• legislative policy
• children of parents with a mental illness
• workforce
• practice change
• interpretative phenomenological analysis

Acknowledgements

The Authors thank the participants of this study for their time and contribution. We are also grateful for the efforts of Camilla Lauritzan and Bjørg Eva Skogøy who reviewed the interview schedule and provided insightful feedback.