KpkE - KVJS

Care for children of mentally ill and addicted parents (KpkE), early help, cooperation, psychiatry

• Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy I (Weissenau)

• Rettungs-Ring.de

September 2021- August 2023

Between three and four million children in Germany are growing up with mentally ill parents. These children represent a special risk group. They are three to four times more likely to fall ill themselves than children from unaffected families. Children of mentally ill or addicted parents often experience that their parents are only available to them to a limited extent in acute phases of illness or that their parents' behaviour is not very predictable and reliable for them. Younger children in particular are at risk in their development if their attachment figure (usually their parents) cannot respond reliably and adequately to their child's needs due to a mental disorder or addiction. Hospitalisation, e.g. for crisis intervention, can also repeatedly lead to unexpected and abrupt separations from the attachment figure, which places an additional burden on children.

The cooperation and networking of the various professional actors has not yet been sufficiently systematised and leads to frictional losses and interface problems. The aim of the project is to strengthen and optimise cooperation channels by developing recommendations for better cooperation between early help and psychiatry and the further development of the repertoire of services. A nationwide online questionnaire survey as well as interviews and group discussions are planned to ask professionals about their repertoire of services and their experiences of cooperation. In addition, the perspectives and experiences of those affected and their relatives will be surveyed in interviews. The Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy I (Weissenau) and the affected persons' organisation Rettungs-Ring e.V. have been secured as cooperation partners.