Aging Parents Of Adults With Serious Mental Illness

In the United States there has been increasingly more conversations about mental illnesses. In some cultural communities, it is a taboo to speak about mental illness. This needs to change. More discussion on mental illnesses can help people get the treatment they need. Discrimination against the mentally ill needs to stop as well. The more discrimination people with mental illnesses face, the less likely they will be to interact with society which can potentially worsen their mental state. The absences of fathers and father figures is an ongoing issue which some predict might not slow down any time soon. The research previously mentioned comes to a general consensus that the absence of fathers and father figures are taking a toll on the lives of young children which can affect them later on in life. With that being said, it is important that present fathers maintain the relationships they currently have with their children and that mothers find a well-equipped person to be a father figure in their children

Nordby,K. Kjonsberg, K. Hummelvoll, J.K.(2009) Relatives of persons with recently discovered serious mental illness: in need of support to become resource persons in treatment and recovery.(Appendix 1). Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing. 17, 304-311.

158-159). “In reviewing the literature, the focus was on identifying the impact of parental mental health, the associated risks, the difficulties with the interface working, and proposed solutions” (Duffy et al., 2010, p. 159). Some of concerns expressed for the program to be effective were how mental health and child care services work together, communication between the two, role clarity, and the outcome hoped to be achieved by the development of this program was to provide holistic interventions which could not be provided by just one agency, earlier intervention which was more effective, to decrease staff stress, and to obtain a better outcome for the families involved (Duffy et al.,

The purpose of this curriculum is to enhance the appropriate education for Hispanic caregivers on the lack of quality care and the services that are provided for individual that are diagnosed with a mental health illness. Hispanic caregivers engage in a major part of these individuals by supporting, helping, and encouraging them to move forward in life. However, due to the deficiency of understanding the individual’s Mental health illness can also be a contributor to the process of acquiring services. Additionally, the services need to also be relevant to their cultural background needs. Social workers within the Mental health system will provide this training to enhance Hispanic caregivers by giving them a better insight on, advocacy, support, and values toward mental health services.

Families are often the main support system for people affected by mental illness. If a

NAMI Family Support Group Facilitator: Mr. Frank Gisondi
(Peer-Led Support Group: Husband of an Individual Diagnosed with a Mental Illness)

Abstract Background: Caregivers of children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN) face unique challenges, such as management of care, coordination with multiple specialty providers, and impact on family income, family functioning, and sibling adjustment. The additional stress of managing and coordinating care for CSHCN may have negative impacts on caregiver health. Parents of CSHCN are uniquely qualified to help each other, and parent-to-parent support has been shown to be a powerful stress-buffer for many caregivers of CSHCN. Local problem: Parent support groups are not currently available to parents of children at school for CSHCN located in the southeastern United States. Methods: This QI project utilized the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA)

Children with mentally ill parents often have a mental illness of their own. Typically when the term “mental illness” is used, many people believe it to be schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, or severe bipolar disorder; a mental illness can be depression or something as simple as anxiety. Children who have ill parents, especially if they are in and out of psychiatric hospitals, “find it difficult to cope because they do not have the maturity and coping tools to deal with certain complex situations.” (Byrne). An unstable relationship between child and parent(s) can lead to many issues with the child, such as high anxiety levels. Children with high anxiety levels often “find it difficult to concentrate on a task or school work due to their anxiety.”

Declining health and depression are two of the largest reasons families look into assisted living homes for aging loved ones. Making sure that the healthcare needs of the elderly are met becomes a priority for every family as the roles begin to reverse from the parent being the primary caregiver of their children to the children being responsible for meeting the needs of aging parents. Diseases such Alzheimer’s and dementia are very difficult for not only the

During the creation of the treatment plan, the clinician identified potential problems, recorded DSM-5 clinical impressions, and determined what mental health treatment steps could be taken to help stabilize this family. To ensure success, the treatment plan offers a logical flow of potential mental health treatment issues, identifies potential barriers, and provided possible strategies to mitigated these barriers. The treatment plan includes specific measurable qualitative and quantitative objective outcomes over a year-long treatment. Although success requires the involvement of other professionals, the focus of the treatment plan is on the work of the clinician with the family and only non-specific suggestions for outside support are listed. Had the case provided more details about the family’s residence, increased details about community resources might have been added (like the contact information for the Health Center, a Big-Brother organization, a single-parent support group, a subsided day-care resource, etc.).

The stigmas surrounding mental health create a barrier not only for the treatment of the parents suffering from these disorders but also for their children. For parents, a staggering 2/3 of the population suffering from mental illnesses, admitting that they cannot care for themselves and their children can be extremely difficult and thus their children suffer. It is said that 30-50 percent of children with mentally ill parents will have a psychiatric diagnosis in comparison to 20 percent of the general population. Many times, even when parents do choose treatment information about their children is rarely

The older adult population in the United States has steadily increased thanks to technology and medical advances. While this definitely is an undeniable achievement, it also creates some challenges that society was not as prevalent to face before. Now that people are living longer it’s also means that often times family members are becoming caregivers to their loved ones during their so called golden years. Not only may it be difficult to care for a loved one, but it also becomes even more burdensome when their loved has a disability. In fact “dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide.” (2016). Fortunately there are adult day centers that serve people with dementia and provide services that can benefit them. However many times caregivers are forgotten about and aren’t provided services that can also benefit them as well. While it does take a bit of pressure off of the caregivers while their loved ones are at the day center, it does not eliminate all the other effects. Many people may not be aware that there are detrimental effects that a caregiver may experience as a result of caring for someone with dementia.

According to the paper by Rose et al. (2006), an important finding of the study on caregivers of mentally ill family members was the significant amount of grief and sadness expressed by the caregivers, especially the parents (Rose, Mallinson, & Gerson, 2006). The reason for this sadness was the wish that the overall daily functioning of the patients could be improved, in order to better their quality of life. Upon analyzing the research and data from this study, researchers suggested that because of the distressing experiences that were dealt with as a result of their family members acute illness episodes, caregivers were satisfied that these instances were no longer occurring as often, which led researchers to believe that grief and sadness coexist with a sense of acceptance of the past, and a positive outlook on the future.

In order for me, as a healthcare provider, to help reduce mental health, I start to educate myself and everyone I am working with to target specifically what the elder patient’s need. It is sad to read that 20% of people 55 years or older experience anxiety, severe cognitive impairment, and mood disorder like depression or bipolar disorder. I would learn about how to detect when someone is feeling depressed or having anxiety. People with mental health can be affected in many ways and if they been taking medications and have a steady regular schedule that have not been working for them, I know I will provide alternatives. I would provide natural alternatives, such as healthy food, natural medicine, diffusing essential oils, music, flowers,

According to the American Psychiatric Association “Studies show that seniors are at greater risk of some mental disorders and their complications than younger people, and many of these illnesses can be accurately diagnosed and treated.”(American Psychiatric Association, 2015, para. 1). Although many of the illnesses can be treated, many go undiagnosed due to the fact that many individuals do not understand mental illnesses and some seniors are reluctant to seek psychiatric care due to being ashamed or believing that their symptoms are a part of aging that everyone experiences. It is not just the seniors and their family or friends that fail to recognize symptoms of mental illness, even their doctors may mistake a symptom of mental illness for another illness or problem associated with older adults.