Gilson Kim-Michelle, Johnson Shae, Davis Elise, Brunton Susan, Swift Elena, Reddihough Dinah, Williams Katrina
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Global and Population Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Child Care Health Dev. 2018 Sep;44(5):721-729. doi: 10.1111/cch.12589.
Mothers of children with a disability have a higher risk of mental health difficulties than mothers of typically developing children. Very little is known about how health professionals perceive their role in supporting mothers' mental health. We aimed to explore the perspectives of health professionals working with families of children with a disability about how they provide support for maternal mental health in their roles. Specifically, whether professionals consider it their role and responsibility to provide support, the types of actions that they engage in to do this, and the challenges that they experience.
This qualitative semi-structured interview study included 13 health professionals (allied health professionals, general practitioners, and paediatricians) working with families of a child with a disability. Thematic analysis was conducted on transcribed interview data.
Four overlapping themes were identified from the data indicating that professionals knew that mothers needed mental health support but were not always clear about their roles and responsibilities to support maternal mental health. Professionals also found it difficult to address maternal mental health difficulties, were not always aware of the best strategies to support maternal mental health, and faced difficulties that could be overcome with training and system improvements.
Although all health professionals were aware of the frequent occurrence of maternal mental health difficulties and the importance of addressing them, several challenges were identified to managing them successfully. Providing health professionals with training in discussing mental health and clearer referral pathways would contribute to mothers being better supported, in addition to policy change that allows parental support in child health services.
残疾儿童的母亲比发育正常儿童的母亲有更高的心理健康问题风险。对于卫生专业人员如何看待他们在支持母亲心理健康方面的作用，人们了解甚少。我们旨在探讨与残疾儿童家庭合作的卫生专业人员对于他们如何在工作中为孕产妇心理健康提供支持的看法。具体而言，专业人员是否认为提供支持是他们的角色和责任，他们为此采取的行动类型，以及他们所面临的挑战。
这项定性半结构化访谈研究包括13名与残疾儿童家庭合作的卫生专业人员（联合健康专业人员、全科医生和儿科医生）。对访谈录音数据进行了主题分析。
从数据中确定了四个重叠的主题，表明专业人员知道母亲需要心理健康支持，但并不总是清楚他们在支持孕产妇心理健康方面的角色和责任。专业人员还发现难以解决孕产妇心理健康问题，并不总是意识到支持孕产妇心理健康的最佳策略，并且面临一些可以通过培训和系统改进来克服的困难。
尽管所有卫生专业人员都意识到孕产妇心理健康问题经常发生以及解决这些问题的重要性，但确定了成功管理这些问题的几个挑战。除了在儿童健康服务中允许提供家长支持的政策变化外，为卫生专业人员提供心理健康讨论培训和更清晰的转诊途径将有助于更好地支持母亲。
