In Partnership with the Ontario Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health - A Family Engagement Training Strategy
Parents for Children’s Mental Health (PCMH) together with Synergy Research and Consulting partners to bring Family Engagement to the Forefront
Developing a Family Engagement Strategy
Overview
“Parents feel that they know best for their children, and as much as we appreciate care sometimes we feel that we are not being heard at all.” – Parent
Family engagement in community child and youth mental health services is increasingly accepted as a best practice for providing quality service and support (Chovil, 2009). Despite the acknowledged importance of family engagement, community mental health organizations vary in the implementation of training for front-line service providers to more effectively engage families. The Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health (the Centre) has a six-year mandate to deliver programs and activities designed to foster the sharing and use of knowledge in the daily practice of front-line service providers. In an effort to build capacity among stakeholders and provide evidence-informed services and tools the Centre is exploring ways to develop a comprehensive strategy and training approach to family engagement.
This report is the final deliverable in the Family Engagement Training Strategy Development: Environmental Scan (Phase 1) project undertaken to assist the Centre in the collection of information and strategies as the family engagement training strategy is developed. Specifically, a literature review was conducted, working definitions and models in the area of family engagement were explored through both the literature review and discussions with the family engagement steering committee, both parent and service provider key informants were contacted for interviews, and a set of recommendations for the development of parent/family engagement training and tools for service providers working in the child and youth mental health was developed.
