News Release, 18 April 2002
With one in seven pre-school children experiencing some kind of mental health problem, the Mental Health Foundation is recommending that more should be done to work effectively with families of children at risk, including interventions during the ante-natal stage.
The Foundation's new report From Pregnancy to Early Childhood reviews a wide range of evidence on early interventions, such as psychotherapy and support with parenting skills, examining which methods are most effective. One of the main themes to emerge is the difficulty of engaging and retaining parents in such programmes, a problem which is particularly pertinent as these are often the families with the greatest need.
"We have evidence about the need for early intervention programmes and we know that they can be really effective in preventing mental health problems in children" said Deborah Cornah, consultant research manager at The Mental Health Foundation. "But there is a real lack of knowledge about exactly why many families either fail to take up such programmes or drop out at an early stage. We hope to answer these questions so that early interventions can reach the people who would benefit from them most."
There are several factors in the family that increase the risk of children developing mental health problems; these include poverty, poor housing, parental conflict, abuse and parental psychiatric illness. The Mental Health Foundation has been aware of the benefits of early interventions for some time - the necessity of such work was one of the most consistent messages to emerge in the Bright Futures report in 1999 - but it is only now that investigations are under way as to how they can be made more effective.
The Mental Health Foundation is now working with four early intervention projects to identify why people choose not to take part and what the outcomes of this choice are. The projects are based in London, Southampton, Oxford and Flintshire, and they all work with families with children of under eight years, where the children are at risk of developing mental health problems, or show early signs of such problems. The findings of the Promoting Engagement project will lead to a clearer understanding of the best way forward with early interventions, and the Foundation will engage with practitioners and policy makers to ensure that the research has an impact on practice.
"Our research will have considerable implications for initiatives such as Sure Start," added Deborah Cornah "which we believe will only be really effective if it succeeds in engaging with those families who are difficult to reach."
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For further information and interview requests contact please contact the press office on 020 7803 1105 / 1128 or email the press office
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