Successful recruitment strategies for prevention programs targeting children of parents with mental health challenges: An international study

Research substantiates children of parents with mental disorders including substance abuse face increased risk for emotional and behavioral problems. Although evidence suggests that support programs for children enhance resiliency, recruiting children to these groups remains problematic. This study...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child & youth services 2016-04, Vol.37 (2), p.156-174
Main Authors: Van Doesum, Karin T. M., Riebschleger, Joanne, Carroll, Jessica, Grové, Christine, Lauritzen, Camilla, Mordoch, Elaine, Skerfving, Annemi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Children
co-occurring disorders
Constraints
Emotional abuse
families
Health
Health problems
Illnesses
Internet
Knowledge
Mass media
Mental disorders
Mental health care
Mental health services
parental mental illness
parental substance abuse
Parents & parenting
Prevention
psycho education
Recruitment
Researchers
Resilience
Risk
Schools
Social media
Stigma
Strategies
Substance abuse
Support groups
Transportation
Youth
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Summary:Research substantiates children of parents with mental disorders including substance abuse face increased risk for emotional and behavioral problems. Although evidence suggests that support programs for children enhance resiliency, recruiting children to these groups remains problematic. This study identifies successful recruitment strategies for prevention programs for children of parental mental illness. The participants were recruited from an international network of researchers. E-mail invitations requested that researchers forward a web-based questionnaire to five colleagues with recruitment experience. Forty-five individuals from nine countries practicing in mental health responded. Descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis techniques were used. Results: Schools, adult, and youth mental health services were recruitment sources. Nine themes were identified: Relationships, diversified information output, logistics, program consistency, family involvement, recruitment through adults, stigma, recruiting locations, social media. Recruitment barriers were: stigma, inadequate knowledge about parental mental illness and limited time. Transportation to programming was an essential component of successful recruitment.
ISSN:0145-935X
1545-2298
1545-2298
DOI:10.1080/0145935X.2016.1104075