Parents' experiences of collaboration between welfare professionals regarding children with anxiety or depression - an explorative study

Introduction: Well-functioning collaboration between professionals in the welfare sector has a strong influence on the contact with parents of children and adolescents with mental illness, and it is a precondition for the availability of support for these parents. This paper reports how such parents experience collaboration between professionals in mental health care, social services, and schools.

Methods: Data were collected by in-depth interviews with seven parents of children and adolescents diagnosed with anxiety and depression. The families were selected from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) patient records kept by the Stockholm County Council (Sweden), and they all lived in a catchment area for CAMH outpatient services in Stockholm.

Results and discussion: We conclude that when the encounter between parents and professionals is characterized by structure and trust, it is supportive and serves as a holding environment. Coordination and communication links are needed in the collaboration between the professionals, along with appropriately scheduled and well-performed network meetings to create structure in the parent-professional encounter. Indeed, establishment of trust in this interaction is promoted if individual professionals are available, provide the parents with adequate information, are skilled, and show empathy and commitment.